


Operation: Stop My Mom From Asking About My Love Life Ever Again

by carrionkid



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: (probably not actually slow burn i'm just bad at romantic shit), Angst and Feels, Emotionally Stunted Losers Play Affection Chicken, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Hijinks & Shenanigans, Other, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-11 00:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12923745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrionkid/pseuds/carrionkid
Summary: Verity Willis is sick and tired of her mother signing her up for speed dating, so she decides to put an end to it. Unfortunately, her only friend is Loki, but Loki also just happens to be the worst hypothetical partner possible, which lays the groundwork for Verity's first right and proper scheme: pretend to date Loki to convince her mom to never ask about her love life ever again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which verity asks loki to fake date her

“Hey, Loki?” Verity’s on minute three of staring blankly at the information she’s supposed to be fact checking because, frankly, work doesn’t seem as important after dying, witnessing an apocalypse, and getting put back in your body.

 

Phone in hand, sprawled out on the couch, Loki replies, “Uh-huh?”

 

“So I’ve been thinking, and you kind of owe me for, like, killing me--”

 

“I put you back in your physical body _very_ carefully.” _(Not a lie)_

 

“--And for crashing at my place for the past couple of months--”

 

“You’re the one who told me I couldn’t just magic up another apartment!” _(Also not a lie)_

 

Verity sighs, “You’re trying to lay low, remember? _Anyway,_ since you probably owe me by now, I need a favor.”

 

“Which is?” Loki sits up, looking distinctly interested for the first time in the conversation.

 

“You need to pretend to date me so I can get my mom to stop signing me up for speed dating, _and_ singles mixers, _and_ profiles on dating websites,” Verity slams her laptop shut with an exasperated sigh for emphasis, “I don’t _need_ her to set me up with someone! Everything’s fine the way it is!” _(She thinks it’s true)_

 

“Yeah, sounds good,” Loki flashes her an off-kilter grin, not quite a smirk but never really a smile either.

 

“Really? I thought I’d have to do a lot more to convince you…”

 

“Of course not! You’re my friend--” he’s cut short by a piercing look from Verity, before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “And, it _could_ be fun.”

 

“Good,” Verity sets the laptop down on the coffee table and stands up, stretching her arms, “Cos she’s expecting us over for dinner tonight.”

 

The statement doesn’t immediately sink in; Loki stays still, mouth opening and shutting like he doesn’t know what to say as Verity revels in the fact that she’s just rendered the God of Stories speechless.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, _tonight?_ ”

 

Verity shrugs, giving a half smirk dressed up as an innocent smile, “I had a feeling you’d say yes.”

 

Loki recovers, wide eyes falling back to their usual almost half closed state, “I have to admit, I’ve been teaching you well.”

 

“Don’t brag, _babe_ ,” Verity drops the pretense of an innocent smile entirely this time, instead settling on a very blatant smirk.

 

Loki freezes in place, face flushed red, before shaking his head in an attempt to shake the embarrassment away, “ _Very_ tricky, Verity, but what am I supposed to _do?_ She’s your _mother!_ ”

 

“Just be yourself!”

 

“That’s horrible advice and you know it,” Loki groans, dragging his hands down his face.

 

“She’s used to weird stuff, she had to deal with little 5 year old me telling all the kids in my class that Santa isn’t real, he’s just our parents. I almost started a riot at kindergarten and she got so many angry calls from parents that I had to be homeschooled for three years.”

 

Loki looks at her from between his fingers, “That’s actually _really_ funny.”

 

“Now come on, let’s get dressed because we have a bit of a drive to get there.”

 

“ _Fine,_ ” Loki sighs, trailing after Verity, “But I’m taking one of your shirts.”

 

“Get your own shirt, asshole,” she turns back, punching him playfully in the arm.

 

“I only have one shirt.” _(Unfortunately, not a lie.)_

 

“You only-- _what?!_ ”

 

“I only have one shirt and it’s the one I’m wearing right now,” he throws his hands up like he’s ready to block a (hopefully only verbal) attack, “Don’t look at me like that! I _wash_ it!” _(Technically true, even if he doesn’t wash it nearly often enough.)_

 

“We’re going to Goodwill tomorrow,” Verity sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger.

 

Loki follows after her into the bedroom, letting Verity dig through her closet while he flops backwards on the bed.

 

“I don’t have anything green.”

 

“That’s fine, just give me something that looks nice.”

 

“Catch,” Verity leans out of the closet, tossing a loose pink shirt embellished with black sequins, “She bought me that but I never wore it. You seem like a sequins kind of person, though.”

 

“I _do_ love sequins,” Loki agrees, then, worrying his lip, he adds, “Is your mother expecting a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”

 

Verity laughs, “Since when have you cared what people expect?”

 

Loki very pointedly avoids her gaze, a truth in and of itself.

 

“Be whoever you’re most comfortable with. I was gonna introduce you as both anyway. Like I would. If we were dating. But we’re not.”

 

“Okay,” Loki says, pausing only to pull his shirt over his head and pull on Verity’s, “Question one: will your mother care if I’m wearing a bra, because _fuck that._ Midgardians can be _so_ uptight. And question two: will you braid my hair?”

 

“Loki,” Verity gives her a small, but very deliberate smile, “My mom’s just gonna be happy that I’m “not” chronically single anymore.  And I _will_ braid your hair for you, just wait a sec.”

 

Loki stands in front of the mirror on the back of Verity’s closet door; she’s a bit taller than Verity and decidedly more lanky so the shirt is slowly but steadily approaching crop top territory, not that she really minds. It works wonders for showing off just how bony she is, all sharp angles and not really very fun to hug.

 

“Are you gonna stare at yourself all day, or are you gonna get ready so we can leave?” Verity calls out from the closet.

 

“It’s missing something,” Loki mutters, digging through the set of drawers that’s become basically hers now, “And I know _exactly_ what it’s missing.”

 

Verity groans, “Please don’t use magic to dye my shirt green. Or to add more sequins. There’s enough already.”

 

“I wasn’t going to do that, _but_ now that you mention it…”

 

Verity steps into the bedroom proper, hands on hips, “Don’t.”

 

“I kid, I kid,” Loki assures her, “I’m talking about these!”

 

She turns back to Verity, arms outstretched to show off a plethora of golden bracelets, nestled in the middle amongst the woven golden bands and thick bangles is a looped length of cord with a single blue bead.

 

“ _Please_ don’t wear the bracelet you put my soul in when you’re eating dinner with my mom.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s just,” Verity clenches her hands into fists before opening them back up and gesturing emphatically, “ _WEIRD!”_

 

“Fine,” Loki sighs, unlooping it from her wrist and tucking it back into the top drawer, taking out a thin chain necklace with a pale pink heart-shaped pendant, “Now turn around so I can put this on you.”

 

“This won’t steal my soul, will it?”

 

“It won’t _not_ steal your soul,” Loki shrugs, “But it only does what I tell it to. Which is currently to look pretty when my fake girlfriend is wearing it.”

 

“Fine,” Verity turns around, lifting up her hair as Loki walks over, “But only because this’ll help sell it.”

 

The only sound in the room is her own breathing and the gentle clink of bracelets sliding down Loki’s arms; Verity can feel the coldness of Loki’s hands not quite touching the back of her neck as she hooks the clasp on the necklace.

 

“This won’t, like, enchant my mom or anything, will it?”

 

Loki laughs, “No, it won’t. You told me to be myself, right? That means no magic to make your mother like me. I’ll just have to win her over with my devilish good looks and charming personality!”

 

“That’s one way to put it,” Verity mutters as she turns to glance in the mirror.

 

The heart pendant rests comfortably at just the length she likes to wear necklaces, the few times she does, despite the fact Loki’s never seen her in a necklace before. She looks good in the black blazer overtop a deep pink shirt. If Loki can get away with only wearing green and gold, then she can get away with wearing only black and pink.

 

Loki hooks her chin over Verity’s shoulder, grinning as she smushes her cheek against Verity’s, “Now can you braid my hair?”

 

“Yeah, if you’ll sit down.”

 

“ _Okay,”_ Loki huffs, taking a seat on Verity’s bed.

 

Verity sits down behind her, working her fingers through Loki’s hair, who winces only occasionally.

 

“Have you ever brushed your hair in your entire life?” Verity groans, “Because it doesn’t look like you have.”

 

“Technically, I haven’t. Not in this life, anyway. The last Loki was a lot better at remembering that kind of stuff but Me-Loki is a lot happier so I think it’s a pretty even trade-off. I am only, like, a year old.” _(Not a lie. But also not an excuse when she has a decent amount of the memories of the last couple of Lokis, some of which are bound to include brushing hair.)_

 

“Fair enough,” Verity sighs, leaning over to her nightstand to grab a hairbrush, “Give me a while and I’ll make this shit work.”

 

Loki turns back to give her the most coy look she can muster, “Be gentle, Verity.”

 

“You brought this on yourself! Brush your hair for once!”

 

“Messy hair is at least half of my charm!” _(Not a lie. The other half is a combination of wordplay and being a loveable scamp.)_

 

Verity shrugs, “Then don’t ask me to braid your hair.”

 

Then, she starts to brush Loki’s hair. She tenses up the first time the brush snags on a tangle; Verity puts a hand on Loki’s shoulder, steadying her before resuming brushing slightly more gently. When the action becomes fluid and smooth, not hindered by any patches of snags, Loki lets out a low, rumbling, sigh.

 

“Don’t fall asleep, asshole,” Verity whispers.

 

“I’m not going to.”

 

“Good, because I’m about to start braiding.”

 

Verity cards her hands through Loki’s hair, partitioning it off into three distinct sections before beginning to braid. She keeps the braid looser than she’d usually like but knowing Loki, she’d get whiny if Verity tried to pull her hair any tighter. When she’s done, she twists a hair band around the end to keep it in place.

 

“My neck feels very exposed,” Loki wrinkles her nose.

 

“That’s kinda how braids work, Loki.”

 

“It’s a weakness. That’s a weak spot and now it’s _exposed.”_

 

“Loki,” Verity crosses her arms, “My mom isn’t gonna try to kill you.” _(Undeniably the truth.)_

 

Loki reaches back and pulls the braid over one of her shoulders, “That’s better.”

 

“Good, ‘cos we need to get going if we don’t wanna be late.”

* * *

 

There isn’t much traffic on the way out of the city since they’re leaving during the sweet spot between the lunch and dinner rushes. At the outskirts of the city, Loki puts her feet up on the dashboard.

 

“Should I kiss you in front of your mother?”

 

“Don’t kiss me in front of my mom. _Please._ ”

 

“Okay, then what about hand holding? Pet names? Uncomfortable displays of affection?”

 

Verity sighs, “That’s all fine, okay, just do what’ll sell it.”

 

“Oh, I _fully_ intend to,” Loki flashes her the lopsided grin that almost always means she’s scheming something, but Verity, eyes still trained on the road like a responsible person, doesn’t see it.

 

“And,” Verity adds, still not looking over, “Try to keep the stuff about you being a god to a minimum, that’ll take more explaining than I really want to do.”

 

Loki shrugs, “The best truth is a half truth.”

 

An hour later, they pull up to Verity’s mother’s house. It’s relatively unremarkable, just another fixture in a suburb of very similar looking houses with a lawn that looks nice but not very memorable. Verity parks next to her mother’s small car and shuts off the engine.

 

“Are you ready?” Verity turns to Loki.

 

“Are _you_ ready?”

 

“Don’t dodge my questions with more questions!”

 

“ _Fine,”_ Loki groans, “Kind of. I’m kind of ready.” _(Not a lie. Just really vague.)_

 

“Then let’s go,” Verity says as she opens the door on her side.

 

Loki follows in suit, catching up to Verity before they reach the front door and grabbing her hand. Verity shoots her a confused look, brows furrowed, with the only response being a grin from Loki. Verity knocks on the door.

 

“Coming!” A muffled voice calls out from inside the house, followed by the clink of a chain being undone and the door being unlocked, “Verity! How have you been? It’s been so long since you came to visit!”

 

“Yeah,” Verity rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, “Things have been, uh, really hectic lately…” _(Not a lie. The world almost ended and she kind of died for a while.)_

 

“And who’s this?” She give Verity a small smile that could probably be classed as knowing, head cocked towards Loki. She smiles, wide enough to show off the missing tooth, and waves.

 

“This is Loki,” Verity runs her free hand through her hair, “My girlfriend/boyfriend and now can you _please_ stop signing me up for speed dating?!”

 

“Come in, both of you!” She beckons them in, shutting the door behind them, expression suddenly serious, “Why didn’t you tell me about Loki?”

 

Loki lets out a small gasp, not dramatic enough to _seem_ like an overreaction, and Verity already knows she’s going to regret doing this.

 

“Verity, are you embarrassed about me?” Loki takes her other hand and gives her the most earnest look Verity has ever seen grace her face and it’s almost enough to make her forget that this is all an act. _Almost_.

 

“No, I’m _not_ , it’s just…”

 

“Verity, honey,” her mom interjects, “You know I accept you no matter what.”

 

“I know, mom, life’s just been really hectic so I haven’t had much time to tell you and honestly, things just started getting more serious between us…”

 

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” her mother laughs, “Just come sit down, let’s talk.”

 

She ushers them over to the living room, gesturing to the couch and waiting until Verity and Loki sit down before adding, “I’ll get some coffee.”

 

As soon as she’s out of the room, Verity turns to Loki, hissing out, “ _Not fair!”_

 

“I’m just playing my part!” Loki whispers back.

 

“You’re not supposed to catch me off guard like that!”

 

“You never told me _not_ to catch you off guard!” _(Not a lie, as annoying as it may be.)_

 

Verity’s mother calls from the kitchen, “How do you take your coffee, Loki?”

 

“With as much cream and sugar as you’re willing to give me,” She calls out, before dropping her voice back to a whisper, “Okay, I’m _sorry,_ Verity, I’ll try not to catch you off guard anymore.” _(True, but only because she added in the stipulation of ‘try’.)_

 

Verity’s mother steps back into the room, mugs in hand. She passes one to Loki, who takes it and smiles.

 

“Thank you, Ms. Willis,” Loki says between sips of coffee.

 

“Please,” she takes a seat in an armchair perpendicular to the couch, “Call me Eloise. Now, how did you two meet? Tell me _all_ about it!”

 

Verity sighs, “We met on a speed date.”

 

“I _told_ you speed dating was a good idea,” Eloise turns to look at Loki, “I told her, I told her that’s how I met Ron.”

 

Loki nods sagely in response, staying quiet as Verity buries her face in her hands in an attempt to cover up the fact she’s blushing.

 

“Is that a necklace I see?” Eloise sing-songs, only adding fuel to the fire of embarrassment burning on Verity’s face.

 

“Yeah,” Verity regains her composure, pushing her hair back, “Loki gave it to me.”

 

“It’s very nice.”

 

“It’s rose quartz and gold,” Loki interrupts.

 

“So, your name’s Loki, like the norse God of Mischief?” Eloise leans forward, bracing her elbow against her knee and resting her chin on her hand, “It’s an interesting name.”

 

“Well, actually, I’ve been working on reinventing myself so now I’m the moon-queen, wanderer, and Goddess of Stories.”

 

Verity elbows her in the side, subtly enough that Eloise doesn’t notice; she just smiles, “That’s... nice. So, um, what do you do for a living?”

 

“Nothing, currently, Verity’s being kind enough to let me live with her--”

 

“While she’s looking for a job,” Verity interjects.

 

Loki cuts her off, “But she’s willing to provide for me, right babe? I’m her trophy partner.”

 

“Loki, I work from home fact checking information for a legally dubious megacorporation. I don’t think I count as ‘dating rich’.”

 

“You do when I’m broke, darling.”

 

“Well,” Eloise finally adds, “I could get you in touch with some temp agencies if you wanted me to.”

 

“Loki can stay _for now,_ ” Verity laughs, “She pays rent by cooking for me.”

 

“I’m _very_ good at it,” Loki adds.

 

“Well, you’re both here early enough, why don’t you help me with dinner, Loki?”

 

Verity shoots Loki a very severe look before saying, “Don’t embarrass me in front of Loki, okay mom?”

 

“I won’t, sweetheart,” Eloise stands up, stopping in front of Loki, “Now come and help me figure out dinner. I’ve got some sirloin and no idea what to do with it.”

 

“I can make a steak that would make the gods smile down upon you,” Loki offers.

 

“That’ll work,” she shrugs.

 

Loki grins, letting Eloise show her to the kitchen and leaving Verity alone with her thoughts. There are plenty of ways in which Loki being alone with her mother could go wrong but the point is to get her to stop asking about Verity’s love life ever again, so she isn’t as concerned as she could be. Still, it _is_ Loki and things are bound to turn out bad despite her best efforts.

* * *

 

In the kitchen, Loki slides a tray of garlic bulbs into the oven, “It’s much better if you roast it first.”

 

Eloise narrows her eyes, looking at Loki, “Is that the shirt I bought for Verity?”

 

“Indeed, it is.”

 

“Well, I’m glad _someone’s_ wearing it”

 

Loki laughs before adding, “ Can you start the pan for me while I’m chopping vegetables?”

 

Eloise nods, setting the pan on the front burner before saying, “You better take good care of my Verity, Loki.”

 

“I intend to,” Loki pushes the knife down to the cutting board, “But I believe she’s able to take care of herself well enough on her own.”

 

“That’s the problem,” Eloise sighs, leaning back against the counter, “She’s been taking care of herself for too long. So you better not let her go.”

 

“I won’t, she’s my best and only friend.”

 

Eloise gives her a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, “So you’re a loner too?”

 

“Mmm, I suppose that’s what you’d call it,” Loki’s voice is soft as she slides the onions and carrots into pan, “Now, let’s move onto the marinade. Olive oil, Worcestershire sauce,  honey, thyme, and rosemary.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which verity and loki get invited to spend the night

In the living room, Verity unlocks her phone, hovering over Lorelei’s contact information. The last message between them is a selfie from inside of Fort Knox Lorelei sent, which would definitely be considered incriminating if it weren’t for the fact that Loki enchanted her phone to both have truly unlimited data in every sense of the word and to be encrypted in a way that no law enforcement would be able to crack.

 

She sighs, letting her impulses get the best of her, and types out: 

 

_ V: i’m kind of on a date with loki right now. _

 

_ V: not a real date. a pretend one _

 

Despite the literal months of radio silence between them, Lorelei texts back instantly.

 

_ L:That’s a horrible idea. Bound to end in tears and heartbreak. _

 

_ V: it’s not a real date! i’m just pretending to date her so my mom will stop trying to set me up with people. _

 

_ L: Is that *really* what you’re doing? _

 

_ L: You can always come to the ‘Loki Broke Our Hearts’ support group when this inevitably crashes and burns, it’s me and Sigurd getting drunk every wednesday. _

 

Verity groans, locking her phone and cursing herself for thinking that texting Lorelei was a good idea before deciding to wander into the kitchen and get Loki back for earlier. She’s standing in front of the stove, moving something around in a frying pan with a wooden spoon as her bracelets clink softly with each motion. Verity walks up behind her, looping her arms around Loki’s stomach.

 

“What’re you cooking, babe?”

 

Loki lurches forward, hand connecting with the frying pan only to be immediately pulled back as she shoves her fingers in her mouth. 

 

Verity draws her arms back with a yelp, “Don’t just put your fingers in your mouth! Loki! Go run them under cold water!”

 

“I’m  _ fine,”  _ Loki says, wiping her hand on her pants, “I just burnt myself a little bit.”

 

“ _ That’s why you run your hand under cold water!” _

 

Loki frowns, but doesn’t protest on her way over to the sink, “And to answer your question, I’m cooking steak.”  _ (And hand. Unfortunately.) _

 

Voice raised so as to be heard over the running water, Loki adds, “Eloise, would you check the rice?”

 

“Are you sure you’re okay, dear?” Eloise asks, brows furrowed in concern.

 

“Just a little bit burnt. It’s nothing too unusual.”

 

“Still,” Verity adds, putting her hand on Loki’s shoulder, “Maybe you should sit the rest of this out.”

 

“I’ll do the rest,” Eloise agrees, “You two can go sit on the couch together and I’ll take care of what’s left of dinner.”

 

Loki sighs, letting Verity lead her out to the living room before whispering, “That was a very dirty move, hugging me from behind like that.”

 

“Come on,  _ babe,  _ wasn’t it romantic?”

 

“Maybe if I didn’t get burnt!”

 

“I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise.”

 

“Fine,” Loki says, sitting down with her arms crossed like a petulant child, “But I didn’t even get to finish making dinner.”

 

“My mom said she’ll take care of it!”

 

“But will it be as good as when I make it?”

 

Verity keeps her mouth shut because the answer is definitely no. Instead, she sits down next to Loki, close enough that their legs are touching. Loki leans over, resting her head against Verity’s shoulder, still palpably mopey.

 

“How’s your hand?” Verity asks.

 

“It’s fine.”

 

Soon after, Eloise calls from the dining room, “Dinner’s served!”

 

Loki stands up, stretching her arms out until they pop, expression shifting from mopey to excited in a fraction of a second. She follows Verity to the dining room, taking a seat next to her.

 

“Thank you for finishing this, Eloise,” Loki adds, between mouthfuls.

 

“How is it?”

 

“Well,” Loki laughs, smile wide, “It’s not  _ quite  _ as good as mine but I like it!”  _ (Not a lie, but don’t let Loki know lest it go to her head.) _

 

“It’s great, mom,” Verity flashes her a reassuring smile.

 

“Don’t thank me, Loki did most of the work.”

 

Verity laughs, “Don’t flatter her, it only ends badly!”

 

Loki pouts, pushing the wild rice around on her plate before resuming eating. She pauses, staring at Verity in a way that makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up. 

 

Then, Loki whispers, just soft enough to sound sincere, “Verity, my love...”

 

Verity, mid drink, inhales her water, swallowing hard and answering kind of hoarsely, “Yes?”

 

“I’m taking some of your food,” Loki says, fork in hand and already midway through cutting some of her steak.

 

“We’re eating the exact same thing!”

 

“Yes, but it tastes better when I steal it off your plate.”  _ (Definitely a lie because that’s not how food works.) _

 

“Whatever you say,  _ Lo. _ ” 

 

Verity gives her an incredulous smile as Loki chokes on the food she’s chewing, covering it up as clearing her throat.

 

Eloise interjects, “So, Loki, tell me about yourself! Where are you from? What’s your family like?”

 

“Well,” Loki swallows hard, really clearing her throat this time, “I didn’t grow up here, I moved to the states a few years ago.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

“That explains the accent,” Eloise laughs.

 

“Yes, it’s…Uh… Norse.”

 

“What about your family? What are they like?”

 

Verity elbows her under the table, a reminder to not bring up anything about being a deity of any sort, mischief, trickery, chaos, story or otherwise.

 

“There isn’t much to say,” Loki gives a sheepish smile, “I was adopted, I’ve got a brother who’s way older than me, a sister who wasn’t raised with us, and things are awkward between all of us to say the least.”  _ (True despite being one hell of an understatement.) _

 

“Well,” Eloise’s voice suddenly takes on a gravely serious tone, “I want you to know that you’re always welcome in  _ our  _ family.”

 

“Oh, um, th-thank you?”

 

“You know, Loki,” Eloise leans across the table, “I was a psychologist before I retired, maybe I could--”

 

“ _ Please don’t!  _ Verity’s been trying to convince me to see a therapist for the past month!”

 

“Only because I worry about you, asshole!”

 

“I’m fine, Verity!”  _ (She thinks it’s true.) _

 

“We can start simple, maybe just try to figure things out with your family?”

 

“That’s  _ hardly  _ simple,” Loki says before catching sight of Verity staring at her over her glasses and adding, “But I  _ guess.” _

 

Eloise starts, “So, why exactly are things awkward between you and your family?”

 

“My parents are convinced they want the old Loki back because they don’t actually want things to change despite what they say and despite the fact I’m happier and a better person now, my brother kind of hates me now because I’m not the Loki he knew and loved anymore and it’s all  _ decidedly  _ irritating.”  _ (Also true, also an understatement.) _

 

“Have you tried explaining this all to them?” Eloise’s eyes are soft and sad as she speaks.

 

“We aren’t really on speaking terms right now,” Loki frowns.

 

“Well,” Eloise takes her hand from across the table, “Coming out is always hard on the family, isn't it?”

 

“Coming out?” Loki frowns, worrying her lip before her eyes flash with realization, “Oh, uh, yes, I suppose. My father's reasonable about it, surprisingly enough, always calling me ‘his child that's both son and daughter’.”

 

They settle into an awkward silence, interrupted by Verity saying, “Well, this was all really great, mom, but we probably should start driving home.”  _ (True, but being used as an excuse to change the subject.) _

 

Verity sets her fork down on the table, and pushes her chair back before standing up; Loki follows in suit adding, “It  _ is  _ getting fairly late.”

 

“You should spend the night!” Eloise grins, “Verity, dear, you never come to see me and you drove all this way and you’re just going to leave?”

 

“ _ Mom! _ ”

 

“I have a guest bedroom and everything, dear!”

 

“I can sleep on the couch, Verity, if you want to stay,” Loki smiles at her and she can practically taste her regret in her mouth.

 

“Nonsense!” Eloise laughs, “I’m not a prude, dear, and Verity’s a full grown adult, I don’t mind her sharing a room with her partner.”

 

Verity can feel her face burning and it takes her a few seconds to gather the wherewithal to shout, “ **_MOM!_ ** ”

 

“If we stay the night then that means we get breakfast,  _ babe _ ,” Loki looks over at Verity, wide-eyed with a half smile, and Verity is suddenly all too aware that she was once a trickster goddess, “And you know how much I love breakfast.”

 

“Yes, I know about your weird thing for bacon.”

 

“And eggs…. And sausage, now that I think about it…”

 

“Okay,” Verity relents, hands on hips, “We’ll spend the night.”

 

“Wonderful! I think I have some pound cake around here, we can have dessert and chat more!” Eloise turns towards the kitchen, adding, “Verity, come help me with dessert.”

 

“I’ll be right there, mom!” Verity replies before dropping her voice lower, “Don’t fuck anything up or take anything when you’re alone in my mom’s living room.”

 

“Do you really think so little of me?” Loki pouts, “I’m hurt, darling.”  _ (She’s not really hurt. She’s used to it.) _

 

“I don’t think  _ anything,  _ I just know you, and you have a habit of picking up anything shiny that you can find!”  _ (Very true and very inconvenient at times) _

 

“Okay, I  _ promise  _ I won’t steal from your mother.”  _ (She’s actually telling the truth.) _

 

Verity heads off towards the kitchen, turning back and pausing, “Be good, Loki.”

 

“I  _ will!” _

 

Verity steps into the kitchen with her fingers crossed in hope that  _ finally  _ her mom’s taken a hint and realized that she should live out the rest of her life never asking Verity about her love life ever again. Her mother is standing with her back against the counter, arms crossed in front of her.

 

“It’s about Loki, right?” Verity asks, trying her best to sound resigned.

 

“Yes, dear. I  _ like _ Loki and I’m glad you’re happy together...

 

“But?”

 

“But, I’m worried about Loki, she seems… Troubled. And I want to help her out, but I don’t want to embarrass her, so if I gave you some money, could you maybe make sure it helps Loki out?”

 

“Oh, uh,” Verity rubs the back of her neck, then pushes her glasses up on her nose, “Yeah, I’ll definitely do that.”

 

“Good,” Eloise smiles, “Because it looks like she’s eyeing up my decorative figurines.”

 

“She  _ promised!”  _ Verity groans, throwing her hands up and leaning out of the doorway into the living room, “LOKI, YOU BETTER NOT BE STEALING ANYTHING OUT THERE!”

 

“I’M  _ ADMIRING.  _ NOT STEALING. THERE’S A DIFFERENCE.”  _ (Infuriatingly, it’s a true statement.) _

 

Eloise shakes her head, still smiling as she takes out her wallet, passing Verity a few bills, “Here you go. Now, help me with the cake.”

 

Verity nods, opening up the plastic container and putting two slices of cake on each plate. Then she carries two plates out to the living room, leaving her mom to the third plate. Loki freezes what she’s doing when she hears footsteps.

 

“Loki!” 

 

She turns around slowly, both palms held out and open to show that she’s  _ definitely  _ not holding anything, “Yes, Verity, my love?”

 

“Whatever you have, put it back.”

 

“I didn’t take anything, I promised you.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

“Good, then you can sit down and eat some cake and stop making my mom regret letting you spend the night.”

 

Loki sits down on the couch, waiting for Verity to sit next to her before leaning against Verity’s side with her feet tucked underneath her. Verity holds out a plate to her; she takes a piece of cake off of the plate instead of taking the plate, giving Verity a half-smirk before biting into the cake. Eloise sits in her armchair, plate carefully balanced on her thigh as she gives Loki a calculating look.

 

“So, Loki, do you feel like you belong with your family?”

 

Her eyes go wide for a fraction of a second before replying, “That’s a strangely personal question but I am a fan of talking about myself, so--”

 

“Mom! Stop trying to psychoanalyze Loki!”

 

“Alright, alright, you caught me! I’ll stop.”

 

“ _Thank_ _you_ ,” Verity groans, “It’s just as bad as when you used to try to psychoanalyze me!”

 

“She used to psychoanalyze you?” Loki laughs.

 

“All the time! She thought I was just acting out until she realized I just knew whenever someone was lying!”

 

“Never mind that,” Eloise waves her hand, “Let’s reign this conversation back in with a question… Like, how long have you two been together?”

 

Loki starts, “A little over a year--” 

 

“--A few months. I mean,” Verity corrects, “We didn’t start dating right after speed dating, we were just friends for a while”

 

“ _ Verity! _ ”

 

She turns in time to see Loki looking taken aback before continuing, “All those times I invited you over for dinner you thought we were just friends? I told you all of my secrets for perfect salmon!”

 

“I thought you were just inviting me over to show off!!” 

 

“You didn’t seem like the type to like going out and even though I was  _ technically  _ working for my mother at the time, she never actually paid me! I couldn’t take you out on a real date!”

 

“I see I touched a nerve with that question, can I offer some advice?” Eloise offers a half smile as she leans forward.

 

“NO!”

 

“What Verity means is, we’re fine, _ right babe _ ?”

 

“Yeah, we’re fine, and you’re right, I don’t really like going out.”

 

“I’m glad we’re good,” Loki says, before leaning over and kissing Verity on the cheek.

 

There’s a second of pure shock before Loki smushes her cheek against Verity’s. A flush creeps onto Verity’s face, almost as pink as her hair, but the coolness of Loki’s skin cuts out the heat of the  blush. 

 

Verity’s in the middle of opening her mouth and shutting it again like she’s trying to remember how to talk when her mom gives her a wistful grin, “Loki’s a keeper, dear.”

 

“Yeah,” Verity answers through gritted teeth, digging the elbow Loki’s leaning against into her side, “A keeper.” 

 

The room falls into an awkward silence as Verity tries to psychically will away the flush that’s still all too present on her face. Her mother fidgets with the sleeves of her cardigan, then takes off her glasses to clean them.

 

“So, uh, how’s work, dear?” Eloise gives her an uncomfortable smile.

 

“Same old, same old… Still fact checking information for a corporation.”

 

Eloise nods, slipping back into the extremely uncomfortable silence that’s only interrupted by Loki yawning and draping her arms around Verity’s neck.

 

Verity sighs, “You always get so sappy when you’re tired.”  _ (Not a lie, though it’s usually in the vein of ‘Verity you’re my only friend in the world and I don’t want to ever lose you, best friend’ instead of cheek kisses despite agreeing not to kiss in front of a certain someone’s mother.) _

 

“I’m  _ not _ tired.”  _ (A lie.) _

 

“Really? Because I seem to distinctly remember you telling me this morning that you didn’t sleep last night.”

 

“No, I didn’t.”  _ (A lie.) _

 

“ _ Verity, _ ” Verity starts in a passable imitation of Loki, getting her to groan, “ _ Verity, I didn’t sleep last night. Do you know how powerful I feel? Verity, I’m gonna start jogging.  _ You say that every time you  stay up for more than 24 hours and I just don’t get it, what’s your preoccupation with jogging?”

 

“The guest room is already set up,” Eloise offers, setting her plate down on the coffee table in front of her seat. 

 

“Thanks, mom,” Verity says, gently shoving Loki off of her and standing up.

 

“ _ Verityyyy!” _

 

“Stop whining,” Verity extends her hand, letting Loki take hold of it before she pulls her up.

 

“Verity, I don’t want to sleep.”

 

“Well, too bad, asshole.”

 

Verity loops her arms around Loki’s waist, lifting her up a few inches off the ground. In a fight between 8 months worth of self defense classes after finding out that the world is more dangerous than previously thought and using magic to get out of any sticky situations, 8 months of self defense training will most often win. Of course, that’s only if the one doing magic doesn’t really mind being picked up.

 

Eloise looks them up and down, “Do you two need anything before you head off to bed?”

 

“We’re  _ fine _ ,” Verity says, ignoring Loki squirming in her arms.

 

“Put me down!”

 

“Nope, you’re going to bed.”

 

Eloise gives her a look, one eyebrow quirked, and Verity shrugs her shoulders as if to say  _ what can you do?  _ Loki goes limp in her arms after seeing that her struggling isn’t annoying or effective. Then, Verity walks off down the hall, still half-carrying half-dragging Loki along. In the guest room, she sets Loki down, who pouts again, her arms crossed, as Verity pulls down the blankets on the bed.

 

“I could’ve walked here.”

 

“But would you?”

 

“You can’t prove I  _ wouldn’t _ .”  _ (A sneaky and infuriating evasion.) _

 

“Yeah, yeah, avoid the question,” Verity smiles at her, “Now get in bed.”

 

“You aren’t gonna make me sleep on the floor?” Loki grins, with her eyes half shut she looks incredibly cat-like.

 

“I  _ should  _ after what you pulled with the cheek kiss! But I’m a good person so I’ll let you share the bed with me.”

 

“ _ I’m a good person, _ ” Loki whines.

 

“You’re  _ trying, _ ” Verity corrects, “But that’s what counts.”

 

Loki nods before flopping onto the bed, then she more or less wiggles out of her ripped black jeans, casting them onto the floor next to the bed. Verity pulls off the blazer before folding it and setting it down on the small vanity against one of the walls.

 

“I think my plan’s backfiring anyway.”

 

Loki yawns again, “If there’s a way for a scheme to backfire, it definitely will.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?!”

 

“Because sometimes it’s fun to see exactly how they backfire!”

 

Loki laughs, stretching out long on the bed. Verity shoots her a scowl before unbuttoning her pants and kicking them off.

 

“My mom loves you! I only asked you to pretend to be my partner so she’d realize it was a mistake to try to set me up with strangers. You’re basically every mom’s worst nightmare!”

 

“You  _ used  _ me?!” Loki bounces up into sitting on the bed, brows furrowed and eyes wide, before dropping back to a lazy grin, “I’m just kidding, I’m proud of you, Verity! Your first original caper! And a very entertaining one at that!”

 

“I just wanted her off my back but she’s practically ready to adopt you!” Verity sits down next to her, arms crossed, “I’m surprised she hasn’t told you to propose yet!”

 

“She did tell me to take good care of you…”

 

“This is the exact  _ opposite  _ of what I wanted,” Verity buries her head in her hands and groans.

 

“If you wanted to mess with her, you could’ve told me! Then I wouldn’t’ve tried so hard to impress her!”

 

Verity lets out a laugh barely stifled by her hand, “You were trying to  _ impress her?!  _ That’s what you were doing?!”

 

Loki frowns, elbowing her, “Hey! I’m not exactly ‘take home to your parents’ material so excuse me for trying my  _ best!” (It’s true. It’s so true that Verity’s trying not to laugh again.) _

 

Verity pushes her hair back as she looks over at Loki, “Is everything you own themed?”

 

Loki gives her a confused look and she continues, “Green and gold boxer briefs?  _ Seriously _ ?”

 

Loki throws her arms up, “EVERYTHING YOU OWN IS PINK!”  _ (Not everything, Loki. But exaggerations have some leeway.) _

 

“Pink’s a good color!”

 

“So is green and gold!”

 

“Whatever you say,” Verity rolls her eyes with a smile, “Now scoot over.”

 

Verity sets down her glasses on the bedside table as Loki makes a noise of acknowledgement and rolls over onto her side. Her back is facing Verity, who mirrors the action before pulling up the blankets. They’re close enough that their backs are almost touching and Verity curls the blankets around her to counteract the coldness radiating off of Loki. She’s asleep in an astonishingly short amount of time for someone who claims ‘immortals don’t need to sleep’ every time Verity tells her to go to bed, snoring steadily. Verity buries her face in the pillow and  _ groans  _ because there’s no way she’s going to fall asleep tonight but she has a point to make that doesn’t involve sleeping on the floor. Instead, she settles for lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. 

 

“If you don’t stop snoring I  _ will  _ smother you with my pillow and then what will I say to my mother? ‘ _ Sorry mom, but I killed Loki last night because Loki wouldn’t stop snoring.’ _ ”  _ (Not a real threat, duh.) _

 

The room falls silent for a few seconds, only to be replaced by muffled laughter.

 

“Were you awake the whole time?!” Verity elbows Loki in the side.

 

“Just a little bit.”

 

“I should shove you onto the ground, you little shit!”

 

“I’ll really go to sleep this time, don’t kick me on the floor, Verity!” She yelps.

 

Verity rolls over on her side, pushing Loki with both arms, “It’s too late, I’ve made up my mind.”

 

Loki laughs, grabbing onto Verity’s hands, “Don’t do this, Verity, please!”

 

“You can stay,  _ for now. _ ”

 

Verity can hear the smirk in her voice as she says, “Thank you, O Verity the Gracious, for not kicking me out of bed.”

 

Verity smiles to herself as she moves back to lying on her side, the room now quiet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TUESDAY AGAIN NO PROBLEM!!!!  
> in which loki shapeshifts and loki and verity go to goodwill

Verity wakes up the next morning with hair in her mouth. She does have a tendency to cuddle anything within arms reach when she’s asleep, which has been Loki more times than she’d care to admit, today included. 

 

“Verity,  _ darling, _ ” Loki’s voice is soft and songlike, “You’re touching my boob. I mean, I don’t mind it, but at least buy me dinner first.”

 

“Shut up!” Verity whisper-shouts as she tries to work her arm out from where it’s pinned underneath Loki’s body, “You  _ asshole!  _ Let my arm go!” 

 

“I’m not doing anything,” Loki laughs before rolling off the bed and standing up to walk over to the vanity, freeing Verity’s arm.

 

She rubs her arm, trying to work out the pins and needles in her fingertips as she watches Loki in the vanity mirror, making faces and pushing stray strands of hair out of the way.

 

“Well. That's new,” Loki meets Verity’s eyes in the mirror, hair still curly from the braid but now only reaching to the base of the neck instead of shoulder length, “I'm in the middle. It's never been  physically like this, always just a… feeling.”

 

“So, uh, ‘they’?” Verity asks.

 

Loki considers for a second, tapping fingers against pursed lips while speaking, “I should  _ probably  _ look at Asgardian pronouns, but they’re so complicated and we’ve got so much gender shit going on up there that it’d take a century to read up on all of it. It's bad enough that Odin refers to Thor and Angela and me as ‘my son, my daughter, and my child that's both’ like he's collected the whole set or something. I don't want to explain that I'm  _ also  _ sometimes in between now. But yeah, ‘they’ works right now.”

 

“I really,  _ really  _ hate to ask,” Verity worries her lip with her teeth, “But can you change back?”

 

“I don’t  _ want  _ to. I made a New Year, well, New Body Resolution to not hold a form when I’d be more comfortable in another. It’s part of the ‘reinventing myself’ thing I’ve got going on nowadays.”

 

“Then what will I tell my mom?”

 

“That I’m an ancient genderfluid shapeshifting deity?” Loki shrugs before they continue to tuck the newly medium-length and unusually curly hair behind their ears, “You  _ did  _ tell me to be  _ myself _ . And after all--”

 

“You’re yourself, first, last, and always, I  _ know that,  _ Loki. I’ll tell her the truth if she asks.”

 

“Thanks,  _ babe! _ ” Loki shoots her an almost too toothy grin in the mirror before picking up their discarded jeans and pulling them back on, pausing to blow the hair up out of their eyes before adding, “Now what do I do with this hair? It’s not long enough for a ponytail but just long enough to get into my eyes.”

 

“You’re telling me that not being able to see anything  _ isn’t  _ part of your ‘lovable scamp’ schtick?” Verity laughs, “My mom probably has some bobby pins.”

 

They push their hair back behind their ears again, “Can I take your blazer?”

 

Verity looks at them, eyes narrowed, “ _ Why? _ ”

 

“I’m gonna use it as a shirt.”

 

“You’re wearing a perfectly good shirt right now!”

 

“I’ll button it up so I don’t nip slip your mother!”

 

Verity pinches the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb, “I’ll give it to you if you promise to never say that sentence  _ ever  _ again.”

 

“Deal,” they beam, “Now, does your mother have any hair gel? I’m going to slick my hair back so I can look like Annie Lennox.”

 

“Why do you know who Annie Lennox is?” Verity sighs.

 

“Why  _ wouldn’t  _ I know who Annie Lennox is?” 

 

“Fair enough,” Verity shrugs, then tosses them the blazer; they pull off the sequined shirt and shrug the blazer over their shoulders, buttoning up the middle button. They’re out the door of the bedroom before Verity’s even aware of what’s happening.

 

She’s about to follow after them but stops when she hears a muffled, “Morning, Ms. Willis, I trust you slept well!”

 

Verity, groans, psyching herself up to do damage control before stepping out of the bedroom because despite being a psychologist, her mom is only  _ so  _ open-minded and shapeshifting seems like it might cross that threshold. She can already hear talking in the dining room; at least Loki seems capable of being able to hold a conversation with her mom without things going  _ too  _ badly. 

 

When she steps into the dining room, Loki smiles, “There you are, babe!”

 

“I was just telling Loki that I might have some hair gel in my room, but I’ll check after breakfast,” Eloise shoots her an awkward smile, “Now, Verity, would you come help me with pancakes?”

 

“Verity, love,” Loki grabs her arm, looking up at her with wide eyes, “Can you make them chocolate chip? Those are my favorite.” 

 

“I can do that,” Verity pats their hand until they let go; then, she follows her mother into the kitchen. 

 

She goes to the cabinets, pulling out the pancake mix and the big bowl that are still in the same places they’ve been since she was a kid. Setting them down on the counter, she turns to the fridge, grabbing milk and eggs as her mother clears her throat.

 

Eloise flounders, “Verity, dear, didn’t… Uh, didn’t Loki have longer hair yesterday?”

 

“Well, Loki’s genderfluid,” Verity replies, cracking an egg into the powdered mix.

 

“I know that, dear, but--”

 

“And a shapeshifter.”

 

Eloise gives her a slack-jawed look, brows furrowed, “...Oh.”

 

“Yeah, that’s how I felt the first time I found out, too,” Verity laughs, “But you get used to it. It’s really not that weird when they change after you know it can happen. Now, where are the chocolate chips?”

 

“Top cabinet, dear,” Eloise answers, sounding tired.

 

Verity nods, grabbing the package and unrolling it to pour into the batter. She looks at the amount of chocolate chips and pours more in, just in case. 

* * *

Verity carries out a platter stacked high with pancakes, followed by her mother bringing a second platter of bacon and sausages. Loki’s sitting at the table, leaning on their hand and twirling their hair with their other free hand.

 

“You took  _ forever,  _ babe!”

 

“Making pancakes takes time, Loki,” Verity laughs, nudging them as she takes her place next to them. 

 

“So,” Eloise leans almost all the way across the table, “I hear you’re a shapeshifter.”

 

“Indeed, I am!” Loki answers, mouth full of pancake.

 

“How does it work?”

 

“Hmm… It just sort of  _ happens.  _ I can make it happen, but it’s much more fun and easier to just let it happen.”

 

“What can you turn into?”

 

“Anything, as long as it’s me,” they smile, standing up, “Like this,” he adds, “or this,” she shrugs, “There’s some other weird stuff but it’s all godly business,” they finish as they take their seat.

 

Eloise looks at them, face blank, as Verity rolls her eyes, “Stop showing off.”

 

“ _ Fine _ ,” Loki pouts, sulking over their plate of pancakes and bacon.

 

“That’s…” Eloise opens and shuts her mouth like she can’t quite reach the words she’s trying to find, “Wow…”

 

Verity runs a hand through her hair, “Well, Mom, it’s been  _ great _ , but we should probably go after breakfast.”

 

Eloise, mouth hanging open slack-jawed, nods absentmindedly.

 

“What about the hair gel?” There’s a sense of urgency in their voice as they whisper to Verity.

 

“I have hair gel at home,” Verity whispers back, “But I think you just broke my mom by shapeshifting in front of her.”

 

“Oh. Then I suppose a hasty retreat is most tactical.”

 

“Yeah, so finish up and let’s leave.”

 

Loki nods before attempting to shove an entire pancake in their mouth, then Verity takes their arm and stands up, bringing them along.

 

“Thank you  _ so  _ much, mom, for letting us stay the night and everything.”

 

Eloise blinks like she’s just awoken, then stands up, smiling at Verity, “Thank  _ you,  _ Verity, you never come to see me anymore!”

 

“Well, we’re just gonna get going.”

 

Eloise nods, walking after them. They stop at the door, Verity has her hand on the lock when Eloise steps forward.

 

“Come here, Loki,” she says, arms outstretched.

 

Loki shoots Verity an apprehensive look, but she gestures towards her mother so they step forward and let Eloise hug them. She wraps her arms around their waist and Loki squeezes her tight in response. 

 

Then, Eloise lets go, stepping back with her arms on Loki’s shoulders, “You’ll be back soon, right? You better tell Verity she has to come back, and you’re always invited.”

 

“Mom,  _ please!  _ I was just busy! I wasn’t avoiding you!”

 

“I’ll make sure of it, Ms. Willis,” they offer a final lopsided grin as Verity unlocks the door, stepping out onto the driveway. 

 

In the car, Loki asks, “Are you going to make good on your promise to take me to Goodwill today, darling?”

 

“I kind of have to,” Verity groans, “You  _ literally  _ have one shirt. And you don’t need to call me pet names anymore, we don’t have to pretend we’re dating until the next time we get invited over, which might be soon after that promise you made my mom.”

 

“I was just trying to be polite!” Loki pouts. 

 

“Since when are you ever polite? And now that politeness might make this a regular thing.”

 

“It wasn’t a bad visit, as far as visiting a parent goes,” Loki shrugs.

 

“It wouldn’t be a big deal if we were  _ dating  _ but we aren’t, so it’s just kind of… Awkward.”

 

“Yes,” Loki agrees, “We are indeed  _ not  _ dating.”  _ (A true statement.)  _ “Now, are we going to Goodwill or not?”

 

“You have to promise me you won’t try to take your shirt off in the middle of the store this time.”

 

“That was  _ one time!  _ And in my defense my memory was still all tangled then!”

 

“Still doesn’t make it socially acceptable!” Verity retorts.

 

“I would’ve bought that shirt, too, if you hadn’t immediately dragged me out of there,” they cross their arms, pouting, “Maybe then I’d have more than one shirt.”

 

“The manager was calling security, Loki.”

 

“It had  _ scales,  _ Verity!  _ Scales!  _ I didn’t know Midgardian fabric could do that!”

* * *

Verity stops the car in the parking garage near her apartment, turning to Loki after shutting off the ignition.

 

“Don’t get anything too expensive, because I  _ know _ I’m gonna end up paying.”

 

“I  _ have  _ gold coins!”

 

“Goodwill doesn’t take gold coins, Loki,  _ no one takes gold coins!” _

 

“I know, and it’s most inconvenient. I do, however, also have a wallet that can create the exact amount of money I need at any given time.”

 

“Loki,” Verity puts a hand on their shoulder, “I’m not gonna let you flood the economy with counterfeit magic money.”

 

They pout, “No one  _ knows  _ it’s counterfeit. No one knows how to look for the tells that it’s magic and I’m a  _ very  _ good counterfeiter.”

 

“Stop trying to get me involved in felonies!” Verity throws her hands up, “You’re supposed to be good now!”

 

“I am being good, overall. It’s just that I choose to ignore some laws.”  _ (Mostly true, but only because Loki’s definition of good isn’t tethered by Midgardian laws, much to the dismay of Midgardian law enforcement.) _

 

“That’s called breaking the law, Loki. Now let’s get going so I can get home and shower  _ finally.” _

 

Loki continues talking as they wind their way down the sidewalks towards the Goodwill closest to Verity’s apartment, gesticulating in a way that comes uncomfortably close to hitting passerbys in the face, “Old-old me was chaotic evil but current me is chaotic good at best and chaotic neutral at worst.”

 

“You’re such a nerd!” Verity laughs, hooking her arm around their elbow to pull them out of the way of another fellow pedestrian. Despite months of living in the city, they still aren’t used to the dodging and weaving required to get around the streets.

 

“I’m the deity of stories and you think I don’t play dnd?!” Loki sounds almost outraged, before quietly adding, “Well, I would if all the people in my potential party didn’t hate me. Except you. You don’t hate me, but there’s still time for that to change.”

 

“I think I’d hate you by now if I was gonna hate you,” Verity lets go of her hold on their arm, stopping in front of the entrance to Goodwill, “So that means you’re stuck with me, loser.”

 

“I’m glad to know that you can’t get rid of me, darling.”

 

Verity shoots them a look that’s probably best described as accusing, “What did I say about pet names?”

 

“They’re unnecessary,” Loki rolls their eyes, “But they are adorable.”

 

Verity opens the door, letting Loki in first; most of the clothes are organized by color and they immediately head for the green section, dragging Verity along. 

 

They run their hands over the shirts, twisting each one around their fingers before saying, “Midgardian fabric is so flimsy, but their designs are much more creative than Asgard’s. Finally someone had the wherewithal to add pockets to skirts. I’ve been telling them for  _ years,  _ where else are you going to keep your knives?”

 

“Be good, okay,” Verity taps them on the shoulder, “I’m gonna go look for stuff for me and I don’t want security called on us again.”

 

“I will,” Loki offers a toothy grin before adding “And keep an eye out for some leggings, preferably of the faux leather variety.”

 

“Got it, fake leather leggings.”

 

Loki continues rifling through the green shirts; they’re picky in most facets of life, a byproduct of being raised as royalty in one lifetime and several other lifetimes of living in a locale that still valued quality over quantity. Still, they manage to pick out a few shirts, mostly loose and flowy shirts that won’t protest too much when it comes to unexpected shapeshifting. Afterwards, they make a beeline for Verity, over in the jackets section, and loop their arms around her to hug her. She lets out a soft yelp at the unexpected hug, before turning around and shoving them away.

 

“Don’t sneak attack me, asshole!”

 

“Better me than one of our enemies,” Loki shrugs, clothes slung over their shoulder.

 

Verity raises an eyebrow, “Don’t you mean  _ your  _ enemies?” 

 

Loki rolls their eyes, “Come try stuff on with me.” 

 

“I’m still looking…”

 

“Please,” Loki gives her a soft smile, eyes wide.

 

“Fine, when I’m done looking,” she tosses some clothing at Loki, “And here’s all the leggings I could find, hopefully one of them fits your scrawny ass.”

 

“Thanks, Verity~” Loki sing-songs.

 

She smiles at them before turning back to the jackets, “Yeah, whatever.”

 

Loki hovers around her, keeping quiet as she looks because they know Verity hates it when they offer unsolicited fashion advice, but they can’t keep quiet when Verity walks past a neon pink leather jacket.

 

“Verity, Verity,” they grab the jacket off of the rack, “Look at this, you  _ have  _ to get it.”

 

“It’s too bright for me, you know I only like the darker shades!”

 

“Yeah, but then we’ll match!”

 

Verity crosses her arms, giving Loki an exasperated look.

 

“At least try it on?”

 

“Okay,” she takes the jacket from Loki, “Let’s get this over with.”

 

Loki takes her hand, dragging her over to the changing room and ducking into one of the stalls together. It’s cramped but Verity doesn’t actually mind because she’s mostly just there to listen to Loki talk about whatever they’re putting on. She’s still perplexed how someone like  _ Loki,  _ a self proclaimed fashion mogul, only owns one shirt and a dirty one at that.

 

After hanging their armful of clothes on the hook on the door, Loki unbuttons the blazer and hangs it neatly over the door handle as Verity takes a seat on the small bench. She’s used to seeing Loki shirtless; shame is one of the things added to the very long list of Things Loki Lacks, but she’s still getting used to how hairy this Loki is compared to the last one. Loki pulls a green peasant blouse over their head, leaving the tie at the top undone so it hangs loose.

 

They turn around in the mirror, cocking one hip out and frowning, “Hmmm, Verity, what do you think?”

 

“We both know you don’t care about trends, so I say wear it, but don’t let it hang loose if you’ve got boobs because people don’t tend to take that well.”

 

Loki pouts, “It’s not my fault people are so uptight.”

 

Then, they pull off the shirt and slip on a black button-up covered in twisting, tangled designs in green; deftly, they do up all the buttons except for the top three, before asking, “I’m assuming your previous statement still stands for this shirt as well?”

 

“Yes, it does,” Verity confirms.

 

Loki frowns and buttons up another two buttons before gesturing towards Verity, “Toss me the leggings, please.”

 

“You know you could get them yourself,” Verity shoots them a look before handing them the leggings.

 

“I know,” Loki replies, “But you’re just too nice for your own good. You spoil me!”

 

“I can punch you if you want me to.”

 

“Please don’t.”

 

Loki slings the leggings over their shoulder, fumbling with the button of their jeans to wiggle out of them before tossing them onto the bench next to Verity. Then, they pull on the leggings. They stand up straight, cocking their hip out again, letting the fluorescent light catch the bands of fake leather as they turn in front of the mirror. They rifle through their many hangers, unhooking a skirt. It’s asymmetrical and dark green and in front of the mirror, they knee up in the air.

 

“What are you  _ doing? _ ” Verity laughs, smiling wide.

 

Loki props their leg against the wall next to the mirror, “Testing the mobility. Do you know how hard it is to fight in a skirt with poor mobility?”

 

“No, I don’t, because I don’t make a habit of showing up to fights in skirts. That just seems inconvenient.”

 

“Well, sometimes you end up in a fight when you’re wearing a dress and sometimes Lorelei yells at you for cutting a slit in her Prada dress she lent you so you can kick people,” Loki rolls their eyes, “I don’t know why she was so upset, it’s not like she actually bought it. At least someone finally had the idea to make it easier to kick in a skirt.”

 

“I don’t think that was intentional, Loki.”

 

“Still useful,” they add, “Now try on the jacket,  _ please!” _

 

Verity stands up, pulling on the leather jacket. It’s a bit big on her, but she doesn’t really mind it, the only downside is that it’s kind of obnoxiously neon pink. Loki loops their arm around her shoulder, pulling her into view in the mirror.

 

“Can I take your phone?” 

 

Verity furrows her brows, “ _ Why? _ ”

 

“Because my old phone _ kind of _ blew up with the old me and this is an excellent selfie opportunity. I always steal your phone for candy-crush when you’re working and you never complain then!”

 

Verity sighs before fishing her phone out of her pocket and handing it to Loki, “Why don’t you just make another phone?”

 

“I will, I just haven’t…. Yet,” Loki leans against her, one arm still slung over her shoulder, “Now smile!”

 

Verity gives a pursed-lipped smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, all too aware of the fact that Loki’s taking a picture. She doesn’t consider herself someone who really  _ cares  _ what people think about her but it’s hard when you can tell each time someone gives you a backhanded compliment or a sarcastic comment dressed up as something kind. Eventually it just gets to you, grating you down until you’re hyper-aware of the way you’re smiling in a picture.

 

“Verity,” Loki gently knocks their head against her’s, voice soft, “You should  _ really  _ smile.”

 

She’s about to protest but Loki isn’t wrong; she isn’t really smiling.

 

“I’ve seen you really smile and it’s wonderful and astounding and you always end up closing your eyes because you’re smiling so big.”  _ (All of their compliments ring true, though people often have something to say about the fact she can never seem to smile and keep her eyes open.) _

 

She meets Loki’s eyes in the mirror, focusing on the fact that ultimately, they’re lopsided. Their smile is crooked and gap-toothed, they rarely stand up straight, always listing to one side, their hair is messy and their face is uneven and they’ve never given it a second thought. So, she smiles, eyes squeezed shut as she grins in that way people always insinuate shows too many teeth; the only thing she can hear is a happy hum from Loki as they take a picture.

 

She opens her eyes, still smiling but smaller, “I like it, but the color’s too bright. I don’t want people to stare at me.”

 

“They always stare at me anyway,” Loki shrugs.  _ (It’s true, they’re weird even for New York. Verity still blends in.) _

 

“Still… I just…” Verity worries her lip, “I don’t like standing out.”

 

“ _ But Verity, _ ” Loki beams at her, bouncing slightly in place like they always do when they’re setting up for a joke, “You’re already  _ outstanding!” _

 

Verity punches them on the arm, hard enough to get her meaning across but soft enough to still be affectionate, “Don’t make puns at me, asshole!”

 

Loki pouts, “I can change the color for you, but I don’t think I should since you don’t appreciate my puns.”

 

“I’ll buy it if you change the color,” Verity offers, “Then we can match.”

 

“Hmm… You’re lucky I’m easily persuaded.”

 

Loki steps behind her. The small booth is too cramped to be comfortable but Loki is able to stand behind her and place their hands on her shoulders. She can see them smiling behind her as they tap on her shoulders three times and in a fraction of a second, the color of the leather shifts from neon pink to a shade that almost matches her hair.

 

“Thanks,” she says, “Now, let’s check out and get home so I can take a shower and a nap.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Loki tries to reconcile with Thor and Verity calls Lorelei
> 
> merry crisis!! this chapter is technically going up on christmas for me, it's only 11:44pm!

A short walk later, they’re back in Verity’s apartment. Verity kicks off her shoes by the front door and sighs; she’s never been one for going out and doing things, it’s exhausting trying to deal with all the lies that just happen in everyday life when you’re constantly aware of them. But, Loki is a welcome distraction that makes it just a little bit better.

 

“Start laundry,” she says, “I’m gonna go shower and you need to stop stealing my clothes.”

 

Loki nods, holding the bag of clothes and turning to head down to the set of washers and dryers in the basement.

 

“And don’t wash the jacket, it’ll just ruin it,” Verity calls out after them.

 

“Got it!”

 

She stops by her bedroom to grab some pajamas before hopping in the shower. She turns the water as hot as she can manage, letting it run down her hair as she closes her eyes. She’s almost content to just zone out and become one with the water but she really doesn’t want to deal with her water bill afterwards, so she shuts it off and steps out to dry herself off. Then, she pulls on her pajamas, she specifically picked out the really soft pajama pants with little birds on them because she deserves that kind of comfort after being out in the world.

 

She’s still drying her hair when she walks out into the living room to find Loki on her couch in their underwear.

 

“Why are you almost naked?” She asks, arms crossed.

 

“Well, I thought I’d wash your blazer but it seemed pointless to  _ just  _ wash the blazer so I threw in my pants too. I kept the briefs on because that would definitely fall on the side of illegality.”

 

“You’re a mess,” Verity laughs as she takes her place next to them on the couch, “Go take a shower. Steal some of my clothes.”

 

She picks up the remote for the TV and clicks it on as Loki walks out of the room. It’s in the middle of a crime documentary rerun, thankfully it’s one she hasn’t seen before. The man on the screen, a police officer according to the subtitles, is talking about how horrible it is that someone was murdered in their small town. Verity yawns, drawing her legs up onto the couch with her and leaning back. 

 

When Loki comes back into the room, another man, the husband, is crying and begging for someone to come forward with information on what happened to his wife. Verity rolls her eyes as Loki sits down, only wearing an oversized shirt from some fundraiser Verity tried to help out with.

 

“What’s happening?” They ask.

 

“The husband killed the wife. He’s doing a great job of fake crying but he’s still lying.”

 

“You should’ve become a detective,” Loki elbows her.

 

“I don’t like leaving the house, I don’t like working with people, and I can’t stand people always lying to me.”

 

“Still, it could’ve been pretty cool. Then we could’ve been a buddy cop movie.”

 

“No one would ever let you within ten feet of a police office, Loki,” Verity laughs.

 

“That’s why I’m the bad cop who doesn’t play by the rules. It’s a trope for a reason, Verity.”

 

“Whatever you say,” she smiles, leaning back into the couch and closing her eyes as the documentary carries on.

 

The silence between them isn’t necessarily bad, but it is weird. Loki usually never stops making quips about whatever they’re watching, even after Verity’s fallen asleep. She can hear them shifting around but they’re still quiet.

 

“Verity,” their voice is soft, like they’re checking if she’s awake.

 

“Mmhm?”

 

“I think I’m gonna try to fix things with Thor. I was thinking about what your mother said and I think she’s right.”

 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She frowns, “He did, like, beat the shit out of you…”

 

Loki shrugs, “It’s been almost a year since then, it can’t hurt to try.”

 

“Well, if you think it’s a good idea then it’s probably a bad idea, but I won’t stop you.”

 

“ _ Thanks _ , Verity, I’m  _ thrilled  _ to know how much faith you have in me.”

 

Verity opens her eyes to see them smiling at her, “You need someone to tell you when you’re going off to do something stupid!”

 

“I just know you like to know where I am and, well, if you wanted someone who actually planned things out and knew where they were going to be, you should’ve chosen a better best friend, but I’m  _ trying. _ ”  _ (They’re telling the truth, but Verity doesn’t need to use her lie detector abilities to know that. They always text when they aren’t going to be back and even though this is technically temporary, it’s good to know that Loki’s coming home.) _

 

“I know and I appreciate it,” she says, pointedly ignoring exactly why she feels so much better when Loki tells her when they’ll be back.

 

“I don’t know how long it’ll take to find him, or if he’ll even listen to me, but I’ll keep you updated.”

 

“I can text Lorelei and ask if she or Sigurd knows where he is,” Verity offers.

 

“She still talks to you? And not me? That’s rude.”

 

“She hates you, just a little bit.”  _ (Mostly true. Verity doesn’t know exactly how much Lorelei hates them.) _

 

“That’s not  _ fair!  _ I’m not even the same person she started hating!”

 

Verity laughs, picking up her phone from the coffee table and opening up Lorelei’s contact. There are a few unread messages, all saying things like ‘Are you regretting this yet?’ or ‘Is Loki being an asshole yet?’ but she scrolls past them before typing out her text.

 

V:  _ hey do you know where thor is? _

 

_ L: Why? _

 

_ V: loki wants to find him _

 

_ L: Ugh. Check bars. I hear he’s drowning his sorrows. He’s definitely on Midgard, though. _

 

“Lorelei says he’s on Midgard, she’s not lying.”

 

“Thank you for helping me.”

 

“It was all Lorelei, and I’m not even coming with you,” Verity sighs.

 

“And that’s  _ okay _ , I’ve dragged you on enough adventures for now. Is it okay if I leave tomorrow? I’ll be back as quickly as I can. I have to keep my nerve up.”  _ (They’re telling the truth. They’ll be back.) _

 

“Yeah, that’s fine!” Verity lies, she wants to say it’s not okay, but that sounds an awful lot like being selfish and she knows she can trust Loki.

 

“Good,” Loki smiles, leaning against her; their damp hair makes the shoulder of her T shirt wet but she doesn’t really mind. 

 

Verity’s watching the documentaries without really watching them, eyes half lidded as Loki makes up increasingly unlikely and ridiculous backstories for the people involved. Loki’s in the middle of explaining how the quote unquote scientist on screen claiming that aliens  _ aren’t  _ real is actually a skrull who doesn’t want anyone to know but is taking it a bit too far by claiming that there aren’t actually any aliens at all as Verity laughs. 

 

Then, she freezes, suddenly standing up, “SHIT! THE LAUNDRY!”

 

“I’ll get it.”

 

“No, you won’t! You’re in boxers and a t-shirt and nobody wants to see you running around the apartment building half naked!”

 

“They might,” Loki shrugs.

 

“No, they don’t,” Verity says, putting on her slippers at the doorway before stepping into the hallway.

 

Alone in the apartment, Loki stretches out on the couch, continuing to watch the documentary that’s probably better described as a conspiracy theory. Still, it’s entertaining to see someone be so thoroughly and completely wrong. 

 

A few minutes later, Verity steps back into the apartment, “You’ll have to get the clothes out of the dryer later. After you put on some pants.”

 

Loki nods as Verity walks over to the couch. She stops in front of the couch as Loki gives her a very coy smile.

 

“You stole my spot, asshole.”

 

“Oh, that was  _ your  _ spot? I didn’t know that.”  _ (A lie.) _

 

“Technically the entire couch is mine. So when I say move over, you have to move over.”

 

Loki sighs but they still slide over to their side of the couch, “We should get takeout.”

 

“Yeah, sure, what do you want?”

 

“Mmmm, what about Chinese?”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

Thankfully, they live close to a place that’s willing to deliver and is also passably good. Loki offers Verity the box of Lo Mein; she takes it from them, exchanging it for the rice. They’re on hour four of bad documentaries and she’s finally starting to feel relaxed after spending all yesterday out in society. 

 

“Hey Ver, can you pass me the egg rolls?”

 

“Yeah,” Verity doesn’t even notice the nickname until she’s already responded.

 

After eating some of the Lo Mein, she sets the container down on the coffee table and curls up on her half of the couch. Loki finishes their egg rolls before standing up and collecting all the boxes of takeout to put in the fridge.

 

Verity, without moving, calls into the kitchen, “Thanks, Loki!”

 

Loki sits down next to her afterwards, leaning on her again. Their hair is dry now but they’re still just as cold as ever. It’s getting harder and harder to focus on what’s being said on the TV but she’s pretty sure they’re onto the nightly How It’s Made marathon, which she usually finds enjoyable because there’s something comforting in a bunch of assembly lines. Loki’s talking about something and she keeps up with making noises of acknowledgement at hopefully the right time.

 

Technically, she sleeps in her bedroom and Loki sleeps on the couch, but more often than not they end up falling asleep together on the couch after marathoning tv or movies. She never used to like movies before meeting Loki, but so many things have changed since meeting Loki. Not always for the best but the majority of the time they’re good changes. They’ve been working on catching up on pop-culture since they’re both out of the loop. 

 

“What are you smiling about?”

 

She doesn’t open her eyes, “Mmmm, nothing.”  _ (A lie.) _

* * *

__

Verity wakes up the next morning alone on the couch. There’s a tight coil of panic in her stomach when she realizes there’s no movement in the kitchen, no singing, no smell of bacon and eggs. Then, she remembers what Loki said about leaving to find Thor; she wasn’t expecting Loki to leave  _ that  _ early. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she sits up, spotting a piece of paper atop the folded stack of clothes on the coffee table. She puts on her glasses and picks it up to read it.

 

_ Verity, _

 

_ Sorry I left so suddenly. I got a possible lead so I had to leave quickly. I’ll keep in contact with you. also I have a phone now, I already put myself in your contacts. _

_ love, your best friend. _

 

_ p.s there’s an omelette in the fridge _

 

_ p.p.s I stole your hair gel and I definitely look like Annie Lennox. expect selfies soon. _

 

Underneath the writing is a little sketch of Loki saying ‘be back soon!’ and she smiles to herself as she sets it back down on the coffee table. Then, she goes to the kitchen, opening the fridge to get out the omelette Loki left behind. 

 

After heating up the omelette, she sits at her small table. The apartment is too quiet without Loki around and it’s strange to think that this was how life always was up until recently. It’s not a big  apartment by any stretch of the imagination but it still feels too open and too empty. 

 

Instead of trying to eat while wallowing in the silence, Verity gets up and puts some music on. She’s a fan of instrumentals, it’s easier when there aren’t lyrics because nobody really writes honest lyrics and it’s grating to hear someone singing and lying about how they’ll never leave you. She sits back down and finishes the omelette, focusing on the beat of the dance song that’s playing instead of the fact that she’s trying to fill the apartment with noise.

* * *

Verity spends an hour staring at her laptop. Part of her knows she needs to get back to work since it’s her job and she won’t get paid if she doesn’t get all the fact-checking done by the end of the week, but she just can’t focus. Even music isn’t helping take the edge off of things. There’s a lot she hasn’t dealt with just because it was too hard to try to reconcile with her worldview and then Loki moved in and they always seemed content to just forget about everything that’s happened. WIth Loki around, she’s rarely alone, which is nice up until the point when she’s alone.

 

It’s not a good feeling, it’s a pathetic and needy, nagging sensation when she’s alone but she supposes that people who have more than one friend can cope with it a lot better. She can feel herself getting more anxious the more she thinks about her life and where it’s going, so she pulls out her phone and calls the one other person she’d feel comfortable talking to.

 

“Hey mom,” Verity says, “I know we just left, but I thought I’d call.”

 

Her mother laughs on the other end of the phone, “I’d never turn down a chance to talk to you, dear!”

 

“Thanks,” Verity bites the tip of her thumb absentmindedly, thinking of how best to phrase it, “Loki’s out, and, well. I still don’t have any other friends but I wanted to talk to  _ someone _ .”

 

“Mmhmm, and how is Loki?”

 

“They’re trying to reconcile with their brother, which, for the record, is a  _ bad  _ idea.”

 

“You never know,” Eloise says, “He could surprise Loki.”

 

“He knocked Loki’s tooth out the last time they tried to talk it out.”

 

Verity hears a gasp from her mother and quickly back-tracks, “He’s not a bad guy, we’ve talked before. Things were just  _ really  _ stressful when that happened. He can be rational, he’s just not always, well, the smartest about emotional stuff.”

 

Eloise sounds uncertain when she speaks again, “Tell Loki to stay safe, please.”

 

“I will. They’re both just stubborn and impulsive but I think they’ll be able to work it out.”

 

“It’s no help if they try to rush it, though,” Eloise sighs, “These things take time.”

 

“Loki doesn’t wait to do anything, I don’t think they know how to be patient…”

 

“They’re young. There’s plenty of time to learn.”

 

“Thanks for letting me vent,” Verity smiles to herself, “You’re a big help.”

 

“You can call me whenever you need,” her mother sounds sad, “I worry about you when you don’t talk to me for such a long time.”  _ (It’s true, she gave up on lying to Verity years ago.) _

 

“I know, I know,” Verity worries her lip, she feels bad about not calling sooner but there are just some things she can’t explain, “Bye, love you.”

 

“Love you, too.”

* * *

Verity’s half-asleep, half-stewing in her thoughts when she hears the  _ ping  _ of her phone. She pushes her hair out of her line of sight and unlocks the cell phone to find a selfie from Loki under the contact name ‘BFF’. They’re sticking their tongue out and their hair is slicked back behind their ears with more hair gel than is probably necessary. They’re wearing the leggings and skirt from yesterday paired with their usual green shirt and chest-plate of armor.

 

_ BFF: no sign of thor yet but i look awesome. just thought you should know. _

 

_ BFF: i’m stuck doing boring things like trying to figure out how to talk to thor _

 

_ BFF: go do something fun in my stead! send pictures! cause chaos! _

 

It’s a thinly veiled attempt to get her out in the world, but she doesn’t want to point that out. Loki has a thing about trying to get her to do something interesting with them each day. Verity kind of knows it’s more for her sake than theirs, though Loki does seem to have a lot of excess energy to burn off.

 

_ V: what should i do? _

 

_ BFF: go to the park. try to steal a pigeon. life is what you make it. _

 

_ V: …..i don’t think i’m gonna do that _

 

_ BFF: booooring _

 

_ V: i’ll walk to the bookstore and get something. is that enough of an adventure for you? _

 

_ BFF: yes. find something interesting and i’ll read it aloud when i get back _

 

It’s kind of a weird arrangement to have Loki reading to her but it’s much more enjoyable and easier to try to ignore the fact that the book she’s trying to read is built on lie after lie when Loki’s doing a different voice for each character. They have a tendency to overact but it’s still fun. After all, they are the deity of story now, but Verity gets the idea that they’ve always been a natural storyteller. 

 

She locks her phone, pocketing it again to head out to the bookstore. She’s foregoing putting on actual clothes for the day, it’s already 4pm so there’s really no point. She throws a hoodie on overtop of her pajama shirt, pulling her hood up before walking out into the hallway and heading down to the street.

 

It’s kind of cold outside so she pulls her hoodie tighter as she steps out into the crowded sidewalk. The bookstore isn’t far from her apartment and it’s relatively secluded compared to other chain bookstores but that’s the charm of it. A few blocks of walking later, she ducks into the small doorway and climbs up the stairs to the shop. Most people don’t know about it because it’s on the second level but she’d probably have to find a new place to get books if it was crowded. 

 

It’s warmer inside and the shelves reach all the way to the ceiling, twisting in a way that’s almost labyrinthine. Verity works her way to the fantasy section at the back corner of the shop; it’s not her usual taste but Loki’s determined to get her into fiction. She’s more a fan of sci-fi and its laughably bad attempt at writing science, though some authors actually know what they’re talking about. Before she starts to look through the titles, she snaps a picture of herself standing in front of the bookshelves.

 

_ V: i’m here _

 

_ BFF: good! find something fun! _

 

_ V: i will _

 

Verity pockets her phone, looking at the spines of the books for a title that looks interesting. She doesn’t really have a frame of reference for what books are good and what aren’t, but Loki does a good job of making them interesting no matter what. She has a tendency to pick out books that look cool, bound and gilded like old-fashioned books. She settles on a hardback copy of The Hobbit solely because there seems to be a lot of hype for it. After paying, she begins the trek home, stopping only to grab some pizza for dinner because it’s late and she really needs to eat.

 

Safe and sound, back in her apartment, she checks her phone again. There’s nothing new from Loki, so she thinks for a few minutes before typing out a message.

 

_ V: since you always challenge me to do things, it’s only fair that *i* get to challenge you to do something to broaden your horizons _

 

_ BFF: i’m trying to reconcile with thor as we speak!! _

 

_ V: that’s not going out of your comfort zone! you do that all the time! _

 

_ V: you have to call lorelei and try to fix things with her _

 

_ BFF: that’s so much more than just going to a bookstore! _

 

_ V: consider it pay-back for all the other challenges you gave me _

 

_ V: i’ll be nice and call ahead so she knows you’re gonna call _

 

_ BFF: fine!!! _

 

Verity hovers over Lorelei’s contact info for a minute or so before finally working up the nerve to call. It rings three times and she’s about to hang up but finally Lorelei answers.

 

“What is it?”

 

There’s a popping noise in the background that sounds kind of like gunfire.

 

“Are those gunshots? Should I call back later?”

 

“No, it’s fine,” Lorelei sounds winded, “Just in the middle of a heist. Hold for a sec and I’ll teleport away.”

 

“Oh, uh, sure,” Verity puts her phone on speaker, leaning back farther onto the couch. There’s some more scattered gunshots, followed by sirens and then silence.

 

“Okay, I’m good. What do you need?”

 

“Well, I might’ve talked Loki into trying to patch things up with you so if they call, that’s why. Don’t hang up. Give them a chance. It’s awkward when they’re my friend and you’re kind of my friend and you hate each other.”

 

Lorelei groans, “ _ Fine,  _ but I doubt it’s gonna work.”

 

“Thanks for letting Loki try.”

 

“You really need to stop worrying about Loki so much,” Lorelei laughs, “You should come hang out with me and I’ll show you how to  _ really  _ have fun. I’m talking fancy dresses, nice food, maybe a  _ party. _ ”

 

“Are you trying to get me to run interference for you while you seduce a mark again?”

 

“No!”  _ (A lie.) _

 

“I’ll come out with you if you can promise me it won’t turn into a crime. I  _ really  _ don’t want to get arrested as an accessory to a crime.”

 

“Deal. I’ll call you when I can find a party that I’m not already planning a heist at,” she falls silent for a second, “Shit, I think Loki’s already calling me.”

 

“I’m kind of surprised they actually did it,” Verity says.

 

“Well, I have to go. You definitely owe me a dance for this, Verity.”

 

Verity can feel her face flush, “I thought you were with Sigurd.”

 

“And you’re with Loki,” Lorelei laughs and she’s too flustered to correct her, “It’ll just be a nice night of what could’ve been.”

 

“Wow, uh,  _ okay _ , as long as you promise it’s all totally platonic because otherwise that would be  _ weird _ .”

 

“I have to go, but I promise. It’ll just be some fun between friends.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

Lorelei hangs up, leaving Verity with more questions than she could’ve anticipated. Firstly, there’s the fact that Lorelei was very definitely flirting with her, combined with the fact that all of it was genuine. That would be a strange set of events but not wholly unpleasant. Secondly, there’s the fact that Lorelei was under the impression she’s dating Loki.

 

The thing with meeting her mom was only  _ pretend  _ dating, but she doesn’t really have a frame of reference for what dating’s like. It’s not like she’s ever genuinely dated someone and she’s used to people always having an  _ angle  _ when they try to approach her. She can identify flirting and even kind of do it herself, but it’s never lead to anything. Still, if Lorelei thinks what she has with Loki looks like dating, then maybe there’s something to it.

 

She’s jolted out of her thoughts by her phone ringing. Scrambling for it on the coffee table, she answers it.

 

“Okay, I called Lorelei and I don’t know what you told her but she didn’t even hang up on me, which is in itself a victory.”

 

“How’d it go?” Verity asks, running her hands through her hair like she can push away all the thoughts she’s having.

 

“Well, I told her I was sorry for being a bad partner even though that wasn’t  _ technically  _ me. Then explaining that got kind of complicated but somehow we got to the part of me apologizing for getting her and Sigurd imprisoned in that overly complicated prison.”

 

“And did she accept it?”

 

“She said she’d tolerate me for your sake, but I  _ should  _ be able to win her over as a friend in the future on account of the fact that I’m  _ very  _ lovable.”

 

Verity laughs, “How’s looking for Thor going?”

 

“Actually I’m in the midst of looking for a specific location he’s been sighted at. I’ve gotten another lead and I should be home soon,” Verity can hear papers shuffling before they add, “And here are the coordinates I need, bye! See you soon!”

 

“Bye!” Verity gets the word in before Loki hangs up. 

 

The silence of the apartment leaves her alone with her thoughts, still thinking about what Lorelei said. It was nice to hear from Loki, though. She’s not nearly as anxious about being alone in her apartment after talking with her mom and Lorelei and Loki; she’s aware that the only exile she has is self-imposed but it’s a hard truth to accept. That’s probably something she’ll have to work on but it can probably wait until tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Loki tries to deal with the fact that thor isn't ready to talk things out quite yet and verity and lorelei plan a girls and loki night out

The next morning leaves Verity feeling less anxious than the day before, a welcome change after how many bad days she’s been having. She gets her daily work out of the way faster than usual without Loki to distract her, moving onto the backlog from yesterday and the day before. Midway through catching up on work, her phone rings. No one really calls except for Loki, but she still answers semi-formally just in case.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Verity, hey, I’m on my way home,” Loki doesn’t lie to her, but vagueness can be a very enticing loophole.

 

“How’d it go?” Verity presses.

 

“Not good, per se.”

 

“And that means, what, exactly?”

 

“Well. Thor didn’t punch me this time. So there’s that.”

 

“Give it some time,” she sighs.

 

“I gave it time! I gave it plenty of time! How much more time does he need?!” Loki’s voice sounds thick, almost like…

 

“Have you been  _ crying _ ?”

 

“No.”  _ (A lie.) _

 

“You can talk to me, c’mon Loki, you know that!”

 

“Things just always go back to normal. We fight but we always make up because we’re still siblings at the end of the day. But now they  _ aren’t  _ going back to normal.”

 

“Look,” Verity cards a hand through her hair, “I don’t wanna sound like an asshole, but, the circumstances here are kind of  _ weird  _ and maybe, well,  _ that  _ will take a little bit longer for him to deal with than your average fight.”

 

“I  _ suppose… _ ”

 

“Just come home and we’ll talk more, okay?”

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

Verity was always dubious of the likelihood of the mission’s success, but she’s all too aware that Loki is headstrong and notoriously bad at coming up with contingency plans. There’s no point in ‘ _ I told  _ _ you so’ _ s when Loki seems so  _ wounded  _ and mostly capable of dealing with consequences. She does, however, regret not asking how long it’d take to get back to the apartment. Pushing her glasses up, she settles back into her work in the meantime.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Verity nearly jumps out of her skin as the front door slams shut.

 

“He said he’s not ready to talk yet,” Loki sounds exasperated, fingers tangled in his hair as he paces the living room, “But  _ I’m  _ ready.”

 

“Hey,” Verity sets her laptop down on the coffee table, walking over to Loki and stilling him as she places her hands on his shoulders, “Be patient.”

 

Loki lets out an uncomfortable hum, and Verity adds, “You know he’s willing to talk eventually and that’s better than nothing.”

 

“I suppose,” he mutters.

 

“You got back early enough that we could still go do something!”

 

He crosses his arms, “Don’t really feel like it…”

 

“Suit yourself!” Verity says, a little harsher than she actually intended.

 

Loki takes one side of the couch, curled in on himself and looking decidedly un-Loki like. He’s quiet and subdued and only shoots Verity a look when she gently kicks him from her side of the couch. She’s struck with the realization that he’s  _ moping.  _

 

“I’ll be back in a sec,” she gets up, excusing herself.

 

The only reply is a noise of acknowledgment, not a question about where she’s going or if Loki can come along. She ducks out into the hallway, the hair on the back of her neck is standing up with how  _ strange  _ all of this is. Once she’s confident Loki’s out of earshot, she pulls out her phone and calls Lorelei. 

 

It’s a welcome change to not hear gunshots when Lorelei picks up, “Verity! I didn’t think I’d hear from you so soon!”

 

“I hate to ask,” she rubs the back of her neck, “But, can you help me get Loki out of the house tonight?”

 

“As if Loki needs convincing to have a night out,” Lorelei makes a noise halfway between a huff and a laugh.

 

“One, I don’t really know anything about planning nights out, and two, Loki tried to patch things up with Thor and it didn’t work and now he’s actually, genuinely moping and it’s kind of scaring me because it’s  _ Loki  _ we’re talking about.”

 

Lorelei is silent on the other end of the line, so Verity adds, “And we could have that dance you were talking about.”

 

“You can borrow a dress, Loki can’t.”

 

“Yeah, uh, I heard about the Prada,” Verity barely bites back a laugh, “But, well, I kind of don’t want a dress? Maybe a suit. Yeah, I could just borrow one of Sigurd’s suits.”

 

Lorelei scoffs, “Sigurd has  _ horrible  _ taste. But don’t worry, I’ll be able to figure something out.”

 

“Cool, I’m gonna go tell Loki he’s been forcibly invited to a party.”

 

“He really  _ is _ rubbing off on you… I’ll wait half an hour before teleporting over, okay?”

 

“That’s great!”

 

* * *

Verity steps back into the apartment to find Loki still in the same place he was when she left.

 

“My challenge for you today is to go on a girls and Loki night out with Lorelei,” Verity stands with her hands on her hips, looking at Loki.

 

“Do I have to?”

 

“ _ Yes _ . Because it’s easy to just wallow in feeling bad and the point of these challenges is to push boundaries and also because Lorelei is already on her way over here.”

 

Loki buries his face in his knees so he can’t see Verity looking at him.

 

“I’m trying to cheer you up because I know you love parties,” Verity’s voice is soft, “And I won’t even get mad at you if you pickpocket a few people as long as they’re assholes and they deserve it.”

 

“I guess it could be fun,” Loki sighs, stretching out.

 

“Excellent,” Lorelei adds.

 

Verity whips around to see her standing behind her, “ _ Holy shit,  _ I never get used to that.”

 

“Here,” Lorelei hands her a bundle of fabric, “Put this on.” 

 

“Thanks,” Verity calls over her shoulder as she heads for the bathroom.

 

Despite how soft and comfortable it feels, suit is ill-fitting and she feels hyper-aware of herself as she walks back into the living room.

 

“I appreciate it, I really do, but… I don’t think it fits.”

 

“Of course it doesn’t,” Lorelei laughs, taking her hand and pulling her into the center of the room, “I just need a base to work with.”

 

Lorelei pulls off her blazer, throwing it over her shoulder as she hovers her hands over Verity’s shoulders, pushing them towards her neck. The shirt follows the same path of her hands, shrinking until it fits Verity’s shoulders comfortably. She then pulls her hands up Verity’s arms until the sleeves rest right at her wrists.

 

Lorelei holds her hands parallel to Verity’s sides, slowly pulling back until Verity says, “Uh, I think that’s good. I like my shirts a bit loose.”

 

Lorelei nods, moving to Verity’s waist and closing her spread hands as she pulls them back until the waistband is suitably tight. Crouching down, she repeats the action she used on the sleeves with the legs of the pants. After she stands back up, she taps her fingers on Verity’s shoulders, repeating the action on the blazer to bring it to the same size.

 

“Could you maybe make it pink?”

 

“Of course,” Lorelei smiles, moving her hands down the length of Verity’s body just a few inches away from touching her, “And I think it would look best with a black shirt.”

 

Lorelei steps back, admiring her work as Verity pushes her hair behind her ears, “How do I look?”

 

“Wonderful,” Loki offers a toothy grin, “Now for me.”

 

Lorelei rolls her eyes as she opens her clutch, “I’ll give you the Prada but you have to fix it yourself.”

 

She reaches her entire arm into the clutch, pulling out a black dress that’s visibly torn and tossing it to Loki.

 

“You brought it along just for me? If I didn’t know any better, I’d call us friends.”

 

“We’re acquaintances at best,” she crosses her arms as Verity glares at her, “But we’ll see what happens.”

 

Loki runs his fingers along the ragged ends of the cut in the dress, the cut hems itself in each place he touches, leaving the slit behind but cleaner. He curls the fabric in his hands and when he lets it fall loose the fabric; previously black, it’s now a shimmery green.

 

He stands up, holding the dress out, “Think I can get away with wearing this and  _ not  _ shifting? I normally don’t object to starting fights but tonight it would just be disheartening.”

 

“I’ll start a fight for you if you need me to,” Verity smiles, “Consider that my challenge for today.”

 

“You’ll fight for my honor? I’m flattered!” Loki fakes a swoon, “Come on, Verity, let’s finish getting ready.”

 

She lets Loki drag her to the big bathroom in her bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Verity pulls her hair back into a ponytail as Loki strips out of his leggings and shirt, slipping into the dress. 

 

He twirls around in front of the mirror, before stopping, “I just… I don’t know. It looks wonderful either way,” she continues, pulling her now long hair over her shoulder, “But some people are cowardly and small minded.”

 

Verity pulls a long strand of her bangs out of the pony-tail, letting it fall against the side of her face, “Do what makes you most comfortable.”

 

Loki makes a sound of discomfort, “ _ I’m  _ comfortable either way but it’s appalling that I even have to deliberate this because some people feel entitled to police others.”

 

“I know, I know,” Verity pats her shoulder.

 

“It’s still a girls and Loki night out, though,” she says, pulling a stick of green lipstick out of Verity’s drawer, “She and her is fine but girl feels  _ weird. _ ”

 

“Got it,” Verity says, “You’re not a girl, just a Loki.”

 

“Just a Loki,” she repeats with conviction.

 

* * *

Back in the living room, they find Lorelei waiting, one hip cocked out to the side. She’s wearing a catsuit now, which seems to be her go-to fashion inclination. 

 

“Took you long enough,” she says, straightening up and scoffing at Loki as she pulls on her boots, “You’re wearing combat boots with a Prada dress?”

 

“Combat boots go with anything,” Loki shrugs.

 

“No, they don’t.”

 

“Yes, they do. Because who’s going to tell the person wearing combat boots that they don’t match their outfit? It’ll only end in someone getting kicked and, spoiler alert, it’s not the person wearing combat boots.”

 

Lorelei gives a resigned sigh, “Whatever you say. Now, let’s go.”

 

“Where are we going, exactly?” Verity asks, “Because I can drive us there but I only have half a tank of gas and I’d like it if we didn’t get stranded because we ran out of gas.”

 

Lorelei stifles a laugh, “Verity, we aren’t driving, the party’s in London.”

 

“It’s in London?” She furrows her brows, “WAIT! It’s in  _ London?!  _ How are we getting to  _ London? _ ”

 

“Calm down,” Lorelei takes her hand, “Just relax. We’re teleporting.”

 

She reaches out, grabbing Loki’s arm as well and pulling her closer.

 

“I don’t think I can do this, oh god,” Verity’s breath hitches in her throat, “ _ I don’t think I can do this. _ ”

 

“You’ll be fine,” Loki wraps her free arm around Verity, pulling her close until her head’s buried against her shoulder.

 

It doesn’t register as a lie but Verity’s still doubtful that things will really be fine. There’s a rush of air around her and she lets out a yelp muffled by the fact that her face is buried against Loki’s shoulder. She doesn’t even notice that wind isn’t whipping around her anymore because the entire world feels like it’s spinning out of control.

 

“See, you’re fine,” Loki’s voice is quiet as she rubs Verity’s back.

 

“I feel like I’m dying,” she mumbles in response, “Am I dying? Oh god,  _ am I dying? _ ”

 

Lorelei squeezes her hand, “I forgot how hard this is on Midgardians. You’ll feel better soon.”

 

“At least I’m not dying again,” Verity groans.

 

Lorelei shoots Loki a look, brows furrowed; she shrugs as best she can around hugging Verity, “It’s a long story… Hey, let me know when you’re okay to go in…”

 

“I’m good,” Verity says, taking a step and immediately stumbling before Loki catches her.

 

* * *

It takes a solid 15 minutes for Verity to be able to walk again but despite the fact she can walk on her own, Loki still keeps an arm slung around her waist. She can hear the music from the party before they even make it into the building, which is impossibly tall and ornate in a way that Verity’s never seen before. At least the music seems to be relatively calm instrumentals because she’s not sure she could handle being in a crowd of people with loud or fast music.

 

"As I promised, you’re not running interference on a mark with me. It’s kind of a disappointing party but it’s the best I could do because I’m running cons on all my richer marks currently.”

 

“This is what you call disappointing?!”

 

Lorelei leads them up the marble staircase and into the mansion; more than a few of the guests give her a look of recognition but only one approaches her. He’s almost as tall as Lorelei with black hair interspersed with grey.

 

Shaking her hand, he says, “Lorelei, good to see you again! Here to replace their latest acquisition with another forgery?”

 

“No, I’m not working tonight,” she laughs, “But it looks like you are.”

 

“You caught me! I’m just casing the place,” he flashes a small smile before turning to Verity and Loki, “And who are they?”

 

“I’m Verity, Lorelei’s friend, and this is Loki,” Verity says, stumbling over her words as he shakes her hand, “My, uh, partner--”

 

“IN CRIME!”

 

“No! No crime!”

 

Loki tugs on her arm, “But you said I could pickpocket!”

 

“Only assholes! Then it’s not  _ really  _ a crime!”

 

“Well,” he laughs, “You can call me Foxtrot, I’m a contact of Lorelei. Have fun!”

 

After he’s gone, Lorelei offers an explanation, “He’s helped me on a few jobs before, don’t worry, you can trust him. Now, Verity, about that promise of yours...”

 

Verity gives an awkward laugh, “I can’t promise I’ll be any good at dancing, but I did promise you a dance.”

 

“I’ll go get started on the pickpocketing,” Loki says, heading for the bar.

 

Verity steps towards Lorelei, letting her take her hand and pull her in close. 

 

Lorelei puts her hand on Verity’s lower back, “I’m leading, put your hand on my shoulder and follow me.”

 

Verity puts her hand on Lorelei’s shoulder, letting her guide them both in alternating between swaying slowly and stepping around a bit. It’s not particularly entertaining, but it’s what people do so she  puts up with it.

 

“You’re doing great,” Lorelei smiles at her and she knows it’s true, “You know, it’s strange, you’re more my type than Sigurd, yet here we are.”

 

“I’m not helping you cheat on Sigurd,” Verity shoots her an accusing look.

 

“No! That’s not what I was saying! Not what I was saying  _ at all! _ I was  _ trying  _ to tell you that as much as it pains me to admit that I can see things from Loki’s point of view, I can see what she sees in you, and she’s lucky in at least one facet of an otherwise unfortunate life!”

 

“Oh,” Verity blinks, “Well, I’m sorry I assumed that… There was all the flirting and, well, I’m not used to that and… Wow. I really messed that one up.”

 

Lorelei laughs, stepping back from Verity as the song ends, “I thought you’d be used to being around flirty friends because of Loki.”

 

“Yeah, but Loki’s, well,  _ Loki _ ,” Verity runs a hand through her hair, “But I’m glad things aren’t weird between us because you’re really my only other friend.”

 

“Speaking of Loki, you might want to go rescue her from the guy chatting her up at the bar…”

 

Verity’s gaze turns the direction Lorelei’s pointing; sure enough, Loki’s leaning against the bar, a cocktail glass full of something that makes Verity’s teeth hurt just looking at it in her hand, laughing as a man who can only be described as being equal parts greasy and imposing speaks to her.

 

“She’s probably fine,” Verity says, “She attracts guys like that all the time. They like that she seems naive and they think they hit the jackpot with a manic pixie dream girl when she’s really some kind of… Uh… Chaotic genderfluid nightmare goblin. Plus, I saw her strap a knife to her thigh when she was getting ready.”

 

“Still, go check on her. You invited her out so don’t avoid her.”

 

“Yeah,” Verity relents, walking towards the bar.

 

The guy’s in the middle of explaining something to Loki when Verity puts herself between them, leaning back against the bar.

 

“Hey  _ babe _ , I finally caught up with you,” she says before pointedly glaring at the guy, “Who’s this?”

 

The man quickly excuses himself, pulling at the collar of his dress shirt as he offers some muttered apology. 

 

Loki, leans against her, smiling, “Awwww, were you worried about me? You didn’t have to be! It’s so easy to get free drinks, you just have to pretend to be interested in whatever they have to say and they’ll buy you whatever. It’s not strong enough to get me drunk but cocktails are  _ delicious!” _

 

“I wasn’t  _ that  _ worried, I know you have a knife,” Verity pats her shoulder reassuringly, “How’d the pickpocketing go?”

 

Loki lifts her leg up, balancing it on the bar to pull a wad of bills out of her boot, “I stole a thousand bucks from some guy trying to explain Norse Mythology to me after I introduced myself as Loki. He was dead set on convincing me that ‘Loki only ever shapeshifted when it would benefit himself so he was actually a man all the time’ but I did leave my calling card so when he sees that a thousand dollars are missing he’ll know exactly why they’re gone.”

 

The last song starts to wind down to the end as Verity says, “C’mon, let’s dance. I brought you here to have fun and I’d be a horrible friend if I just left you by yourself to get hit on by assholes.”

 

“I  _ am  _ pickpocketing them,” Loki shrugs, “I  _ do _ consider that fun.”

 

“I don’t know about you, but putting up with assholes just so you can get money sounds a lot like working and  _ not  _ like enjoying a night out,” Verity takes her hand as the next song starts up, feeling the coolness through her gloves, “So let’s go try to dance and have a halfway decent night, because this is legitimately one of the fanciest things I’ve ever done.”

 

Loki nods, letting Verity drag her out to the dance floor as the music from the live band starts to swell. She puts both hands on Verity’s waist, who drapes her arms over Loki’s shoulders. Loki leans forward, almost pressing her cheek against Verity’s as they both sway.

 

“Thanks for doing this, I know you don’t like parties.”

 

“Consider this a challenge for both of us!” Verity pauses, worrying her lip before asking, “Are you feeling any better?”

 

“Maybe, but maybe I’m just distracted…”

 

Verity brings her hand up to stroke Loki’s hair, “It won’t always feel like this, if there’s one thing I’ve learned while being your friend, it’s that anything can change at any moment and that’s scary and exciting, but you have to accept that.”

 

“Thanks,” Loki mumbles, “But where’s Lorelei?”

 

Verity scans the crowd looking for her over Loki’s shoulder. Theoretically, it should be easy to pick out a supernaturally tall woman in a cat-suit, but she’s nowhere to be found among the crowd of dancers. 

 

Verity groans, “Probably off breaking her promise not to run any cons tonight…”

 

The band pauses briefly at the end of the slower song to let the crowd applaud them before launching into a faster jazzy sounding song. 

 

Loki steps back, hands still on Verity’s waist, “Well, all we can do is dance in the meantime and get ready to run when Lorelei tells us to. Don’t worry, I’ve done this before. It’ll be fine.”

 

“Please don’t make me a wanted fugitive.”

 

“Actually it would be Lorelei’s fault if you become a wanted fugitive.”

 

“Loki, that’s not encouraging  _ at all! _ ”

 

“Don’t think about it too much, I’ll make sure everything’s  fine,” Loki says, “Now take my hand and hold your arm up so I can spin.”

 

“Okay,” Verity says, apprehensive.

 

Loki spins easily, hand squeezing Verity’s. The skirt of her dress spins with her, shimmering green in the low light of the dance-hall. Laughing, she pulls back in to put her hand on Verity’s waist.

 

“I’m going to dip you, is that okay?”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“Good,” Loki grins. 

 

She dips Verity down low enough that her ponytail brushes the ground, making her yelp. Then, she pulls her back up, still smiling.

 

“See, I had you!”

 

“How’d you learn to dance like that?” Verity asks, as she lets Loki lead her across the room.

 

Loki rolls her eyes, “Princely duties. That, and watching a lot of eighties dance movies.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

By the time the song ends, Verity’s a little bit winded. She walks over to the bar, still holding Loki’s hand. Loki orders another one of the almost neon colored cocktails, elbowing Verity as she sips it.

 

“Try it, just a little bit. It’s not even that sweet!”

 

“You have a horrible sweet tooth, Loki, I’ve seen you eating plain sugar from a bowl before.”

 

Loki pouts, taking another sip of the drink as Lorelei comes up behind her to tap her on the shoulder.

 

“We need to go,” her voice is low but Verity can feel the severity in it.

 

“One second,” Loki replies before chugging the last of her cocktail, “Now, let’s go.”

* * *

On the steps of the mansion, Lorelei grabs both their hands too quickly for Verity to have time to panic. She realizes what’s happening just as they get back to her apartment. 

 

Head spinning, she leans back against the wall, “Lorelei… What did you  _ do? _ ”

 

“I just helped out Foxtrot a little bit. It turned out the host got ahold of a magical amulet of sorts that might’ve had Asgardian ties so I figured I’d just take it and investigate.”

 

“You promised no heisting!”

 

“I promised not to make you run interference,” Lorelei shrugs, “Which you  _ didn’t _ . Well, I’m off to put this amulet somewhere safe.”

 

She’s gone in a split second, leaving Verity and Loki alone in the apartment. Verity doesn’t feel as dizzy this time around, but she still doesn’t feel great. 

 

Loki lets her lean against her again, “You get used to it, eventually.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

“Just help me to bed,” she groans.

 

“Will do.”

 

In her bedroom, Verity fumbles with undoing the buttons on her dress shirt as Loki pulls down the covers for her. 

 

Loki hovers by the bedroom door afterwards, “Good night, Verity.”

 

“Night.”

 

She crawls into bed in just her undershirt and when she closes her eyes, she can still feel the world spinning around her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for enjoying this ride, i'm glad you stuck with me for 6 entire chapters!!  
> \--  
> in which loki and verity have a serious conversation and somehow stumble into a relationship

Verity wakes up with her head pounding. Her mouth feels like it’s the dryest it’s ever been in her entire life; it’s still dark out so she looks at her alarm clock. Her glasses aren’t on, so it’s kind of hard to make out the numbers but it’s definitely early. She’s drenched in sweat and has a feeling that she was dreaming but she can’t remember what about.

 

Standing up, she cards a hand through her hair and walks out of her bedroom without turning the lights on. She’s used to this routine of getting water in the middle of the night in the dark to avoid waking Loki up even though she’s pretty sure she’s unsuccessful most times.

 

Leaning against the kitchen counter, she gulps down the glass of water like it’s the first time she’s had something to drink in days. Her eyes are adjusted enough to the darkness that she can make out the distinct lack of a Loki-shaped blob on the couch. Which wouldn’t be weird if the apartment wasn’t completely silent and if Loki had mentioned going somewhere.

 

The only other thing out of place is that the fire escape window is open. Verity sets down her glass, heading over to the window and stepping out onto the fire escape. She doesn’t see Loki anywhere down below, so she climbs up to the roof. Loki’s in the long jacket, standing with arms crossed and completely unaware of Verity’s presence.

 

Loki turns around when he hears her footsteps, “What are you doing up here?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Verity puts her hands on her hips, “Because you sure look like you're doing something stupid.”

 

He laughs, head thrown back as he's balanced on the edge of the roof. Verity takes a seat next to him, back pressed safely against the rough brick wall.

 

“Did I wake you?” He adds, “You've never woken up before…”

 

The word hangs heavy between them, Verity can feel the weight of it on her chest, making it hard to breathe. This isn’t a one time occurance, Loki’s done this  _ before. _

 

“You weren't in the apartment, so I went looking,” Verity pushes her hair back, nervous energy crackling in her fingers, “I thought you might’ve--”

 

“Left?” Loki asks, giving a small smile that's almost pitiful.

 

“Done something stupid,” Verity finishes.

 

“No, I just come up here to think...”

 

“Look,” Verity sighs, “I want you to tell me, straight out, no bullshit, no avoidance, no vagueness… Are you okay?”

 

Loki lets out an uncomfortable hum, rocking back on his heels, still balanced precariously on the roof, “Well, I'm not going to kill myself again, if that's what you mean.”

 

The statement makes her flinch, she's always been aware that when it really came down to it, Loki did kill himself. Yes, he came back, but it still was a fact of life that he had killed himself. It was scary to hear it said aloud, that made it all too real.

 

“And I won't run away again. I didn't want to… Run away, that is,” Loki sighs, dropping down from the ledge to sit next to Verity, “But I'm fine now.”  _ (He thinks it's true) _

 

“I don't think you are,” Verity pushes the hair out of her eyes again, just to have something to do with her hands, “I really mean that.”

 

“Verity Willis,” he takes her hands in his own, “I promise you, on my life, that I won't kill myself again. It's pointless. I'm not happy with myself, but I'm working on it and who knows if I'll just come back as someone worse next time.”

 

Verity squeezes his hands as tight as she can, “You're not bad, Loki.”

 

“That's a nice lie, Verity.”

 

“It's true,” she looks him directly in the eye, “I wouldn't tell you it if it wasn't. And I still trust you, it was just hard when you were gone. I was so worried about you, and sometimes I still can’t believe you’re back.”

 

“I was dead, Verity. I was wandering the void trying to find my way back and the only thing I had was you.”

 

Verity gasps, it’s not intentional and she can’t think of anything to say except, “Really?”

 

“Yes, I wanted a fresh start, but I still wanted to remember you. You were one of the only things I kept because I needed a way  _ home _ ,” He falls silent, smiling again, still small and pitiful, before saying, “Tell me about  _ your  _ Loki.”

 

“You are my Loki, asshole!”  _ (It’s true, Loki is always Loki is always Loki, in one way or another.) _

 

“No, I'm not. But I am the god of stories, and I want his story so I can remember him, because you're the only one who knows he's dead. Just as I was the only one who knew the good Loki was dead. _ I am the crime that will not be forgiven _ ,” he mutters, “And it's true. I don't think Thor will ever forgive me, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself, even if I'm not wearing a corpse anymore, even after I destroyed that stolen body. He died as himself but he should not have had to die.”

 

Verity looks down at her hands, curled in her lap, “I’m not a story-teller… I didn’t even read fiction before I met you.”

 

“Just try, please.”

 

“Well,” she starts, “We met at speed-dating. I saw right through his illusion of being an old accountant, and I thought he was kind of intriguing. He told me this ridiculous story about goddesses on the run and quests to get them back and it was all true. Well. Most of it was true. It was the first time I could  _ actually  _ stomach a story so fantastical, and maybe he was a bit full of himself but he was  _ interesting. _ ”

 

There isn’t a response from Loki, so she looks up to see him watching her intently; he doesn’t do anything other than give her a sad look, so she continues.

 

“Somewhere along the way he invited me over to his house, which you probably remember, and somehow we became friends. I never thought  _ I’d  _ end up being the best friend of a god of lies but it happened and he never lied to me, even if he did find some loopholes to get around lying to me.

 

“Sometimes he got me tangled up in something dangerous but he always ended up helping me and I always felt safe around him. Even when King Loki came, I was angry but I didn’t feel like I was in danger. You’re similar but not the same, he never changed in front of me the entire time I knew him. I don’t know why but I hope he wasn’t scared to. You have the same smile and the same eyes and the same bad sense of humor, but  _ you  _ seem happier.”

 

“You cared about him,” Loki says, almost too quiet for Verity to hear and it almost looks like he’s crying but maybe it’s just the glint of moonlight in his eyes or the fact that she isn’t wearing her glasses.

 

“Yeah and I care about  _ you!  _ You remembered me and you remembered what we did and you’re still the same Loki who helped me learn how to enjoy living again!” Verity crosses her arms, hugging herself tight, “Look, I told you the story and now we’re gonna talk about everything that happened because we need to. You keep ignoring it and I tried to ignore it too, but I can’t.”

 

Loki grimaces, leaning back against the brick wall, “What do you want to talk about?”

 

“Everything! All of it!” Verity throws her hands up, “You died and you came back and that doesn’t bother you even just a little bit?!”

 

“No, it doesn’t.”  _ (A lie.) _

 

Verity pinches the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, “Look, I don’t understand the god stuff at all, but I  _ do  _ understand feeling like shit and hating yourself and wishing you were dead. That’s why I’m worried about you! You can’t just pretend nothing’s wrong forever!”

 

“Verity--”

 

“Those were the worst eight months of my entire life and I don’t even want to think about what they were like for you because they were hell for me and I wasn’t even dead.”

 

“Verity,” Loki takes her hand in his, “Verity, are you okay?”

 

“I don’t think I am, fuck, I don’t think I’m okay. I was just finally starting to feel like the world was a safe place, a  _ good  _ place and then everything happened and I’ve never been so afraid in my life. I only left my apartment to take  _ self defense classes _ because I was too afraid to do anything else and I couldn’t even explain it to anyone because I didn’t have anyone else. You were my only friend and I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” 

 

She’s crying by the last sentence and Loki squeezes her hand, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I was so cryptic.”

 

“You had to do it, didn’t you?” Verity wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

 

“I did, but that doesn’t change that I’m sorry. I thought I could just run away forever.”

 

“I should’ve helped more, I shouldn’t’ve walked out and just left you with  _ him.  _ I abandoned you and when I realized I might never see you again, it was too late.”

 

“He would’ve killed you, Verity, if he knew that you were the reason I wanted to be better. It wasn’t your job to help me,” he says, meeting her eyes, “I had to help myself but you made me  _ want  _ to help myself. And I’m not completely happy with myself but no one ever really is and I’m learning to live with that.”

 

“That’s so sappy, asshole,” Verity smiles scrubbing the last of her tears from her eyes.

 

Loki tips his head back as he laughs, hitting just the right angle of moonlight that Verity can see his mascara is smeared all around his eyes.

 

“You look like a raccoon,” she blurts out, before being wracked with a full body shiver.

 

“And you look cold,” Loki says, not a question but a statement, shrugging off his jacket, “Take my jacket.”

 

He drapes it over Verity’s shoulders and she curls it around herself. She’s shivering halfway from adrenaline and halfway from the biting wind that’s picked up while they’ve been up on the roof.

 

“Now you’ll get cold,” she frowns, despite the fact his body temperature seems to be lower than most people’s.

 

“I’ll be fine,” he says, sitting next to her.

 

“No, come sit with me and I’ll wrap the jacket around both of us!”

 

She’s pretty sure Loki knows it’s more of a pretense to get close than anything else but he still comes and sits in the space between her legs, back leaning against her stomach and his head tucked under her chin.

 

“The hardest part about living in the city is that you can’t see the stars,” Verity mumbles and Loki can feel the rumble in her throat when she speaks.

 

“I wanted to show you the world, I wanted to give you the entire universe,” Loki’s voice is soft.

 

“I know, I just wasn't ready. That’s why I wanted you to bring me home. I’m barely ready to see the world outside of New York, much less the entire universe,” she laughs, “But you’re helping. You’ve always been helping even if you didn’t know you were.”

 

“Much like you’ve helped me,” Loki adds before slipping into silence.

 

Verity doesn’t have anything to say, it feels like all the words she has have spilled out and now she’s hollow, picked clean inside. It’s strange to see Loki at a loss for words, however. He’s always loud and charismatic and exciting, in need of constant change. 

 

But he isn’t, not really, now that she thinks about it. The one she sees is an act, a way of running away without actually leaving. Keeping busy to avoid thinking about everything that’s happened. It’s a mask that’s been cracking more and more frequently but she’s been too willing to just overlook the cracks. Maybe this somber Loki is the real Loki, maybe the real Loki is a mix of both of them.

 

But she’s been doing the same thing too, hasn’t she? Marathoning bad documentaries for hours on end, reading through textbooks and storybooks and trashy novels, going to the gym down the street and punching the bag until her hands are numb, knuckles bruised. They’ve both been running since stopping King Loki and now she can’t catch her breath.

 

She squeezes her eyes shut, focusing on breathing in and out until her heart’s stopped racing. She can still feel the weight of Loki against her and it’s calming. If Loki’s aware of the fact that she was just panicking, he doesn’t bring it up.

 

“Verity, let’s go inside.”

 

She makes a noise of confirmation, burying her face in his hair.

* * *

Back in the apartment, she takes a seat on the couch, curling in on herself like she can fill that weird empty feeling inside of herself making herself as small as possible. A while later, Loki sits down next to her but she doesn’t bother looking at him, keeping her head buried in his jacket.

 

“I made hot chocolate!”

 

Verity uncurls slightly, “It’s not even winter yet, Loki.”

 

“Hot chocolate is eternal,” he shrugs, passing her a mug before sitting down.

 

Verity takes a sip of the hot chocolate, it’s great as always; Loki does a good job of making sure it isn’t too sweet for her.

 

“I’m really glad I met you,” she says, uncurling even more, “You’ve made me really happy. And it’s gonna sound weird but I don’t think I was ever  _ really  _ happy before, always just pretending but I couldn’t tell the difference...”

 

“Sometimes you have to trick yourself into thinking something’s true until it becomes true,” Loki says, giving her that sad smile she’s starting to hate seeing on his face.

 

“Were you pretending to be happy?” she asks, worrying her lip with her teeth.

 

“I’ve pretended to be a lot of things.”  _ (An evasion that’s a truth in and of itself.) _

 

“Are you happy now?”

 

“Yes.”  _ (Not a lie.) _

 

“I’m glad we’re happy now, I think it makes up for all that time before,” Verity says before taking another sip of hot chocolate.

 

She's happy with Loki, genuinely happy in a way that made her realize she wasn't actually happy before. At some point in time, pretending to be happy so he wouldn't get worried had turned into actually being happy. In the vein of things that might be pretend becoming real, she thinks back to the past couple of days. They were a believable couple to both her mother and Lorelei, and though she hasn't ventured much into the territory of rom-coms, Verity gets the idea that a lot of the things they do together could count as dates. 

 

She's never had a crush before, not even now despite the fact she's seriously reevaluating her relationship with Loki. Maybe it would be nice to just try out the label of ‘dating’. The daily challenges have them going to restaurants they’ve never been to before, going on increasingly longer day trips, seeing plays, going to museums, all things that technically could be dates if you wanted them to. Loki  _ is  _ very physically affectionate but always polite when she says something bothers her and the line between platonic and romantic is an annoying blurry thing she's tired of tightrope walking.

 

She's sprung from her thoughts by Loki saying, “Verity?”

 

“Yeah?” She replies.

 

“I'm having feelings,” His voice quirks up at the end of the word like he's asking a question as he's looking out from behind his hands, peering between the gaps between his fingers, “Many feelings. About you.”

 

“Oh my god,” Verity whispers, burying her face in her hands to hide her laughter. 

 

Loki can do honest any day of the week, but he's hopeless at being earnest. When she finally looks back up at him, his eyes are wide, watching her.

 

“Oh my god, uncover your face.”

 

“ _ Why?”  _ He asks, still peering through his fingers.

 

“Just do it, dumbass.”

 

Loki lets his hands fall from his face, they're still hovering up by his chest when Verity leans forwards to kiss him. It's a quick action, just lips pressed against lips before she pulls back, but not entirely unpleasant. Loki's lips are cold but so is the rest of him and Verity still isn't sure what all the hype is about having a first kiss but all in all, it's something she'd consider doing again. It's something she might even  _ like  _ doing again.

 

Loki blinks once, twice, brows furrowed as he says, “So… Does that mean you have feelings for me too?”

 

“Yes. Maybe. I don't know, I've never dated anyone before but a lot of the stuff we do falls in date territory and you're the only person I've genuinely actually liked other than maybe Lorelei and she's really pretty and nice but I definitely wouldn't kiss her. I didn't think I'd ever kiss  _ anyone  _ but I did kind of like kissing you so I guess we're kind of dating now?”

 

“Okay! Technically  _ I've _ never dated anyone either. Old me just met you at speed dating and was too busy trying to save the world to date. Kid me was, well, a kid. Old-old evil me was supposedly a ladies man if the tales are to be believed but I don't remember much of being him. Actually, now that I think about it, he was a bit of an everything man? I do distinctly remember having a thing with  _ Sigurd, _ ” Loki grimaces.

 

“You and  _ Sigurd?! _ Holy shit,” Verity can’t choke back her laughter this time, “You dated the godly dudebro?”

 

“In my defense, I was lonely and  _ evil  _ and he’s kind of cute when he’s not saying something wildly misogynistic!” He throws his hands up in protest, “But what I was  _ trying  _ to say is that the dating thing is new for both of us so we’ll both be figuring it out along the way.”

 

“Okay, cool, let's try this,” Verity grins, “And if it doesn't work we’re still best friends?”

 

“Forever and ever,” Loki nods solemnly, then adds, “So does that mean I don't have to sleep on the couch anymore?”

 

She laughs, “No, you don't have to sleep on the couch, but to be fair, we usually end up sleeping in the same place anyway. Do you know how many times I’ve fallen asleep during movie night?”

 

“Excellent!” Loki gives her the gap-toothed grin that always means he's planning something, “Then I suppose next time we ought to meet  _ my  _ parents. Don't worry, they'll love you.”

 

“We can figure that out in the morning, Loki, it's, like, 3 am and I'm exhausted, I've had enough emotional revelations to last a lifetime. C'mon to bed with me. I’ll call Thor tomorrow and see if I can work some of my ‘please listen to Loki’ magic on him.”

 

Loki follows after her, curling into what’s left of the warmth in her bed, her arms wrapped around him. Things don’t feel any different, it doesn’t feel like the beginning of something but maybe he missed the beginning of all of  _ this _ . Which does pose troubling implications for a deity of stories, but it’s not a bad place to be.


End file.
